Use of inducible promoters in the production of methionine

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to use of inducible promoters in the production of methionine by fermentation. The present invention concerns a method for the production of methionine, its precursors or derivatives in a fermentative process comprising the following steps:
         culturing a modified microorganism in an appropriate culture medium comprising a source of carbon, a source of sulphur and a source of nitrogen, and   recovering methionine and/or its derivatives from the culture medium, wherein in said modified microorganism, the expression of at least one gene involved in methionine production is under the control, direct or indirect, of a heterologous inducible promoter.       

     The invention also concerned the modified microorganism used in the method.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional of copending U.S. application Ser. No. 13/515,432 filed Jun. 12, 2012, which is a §371 National Stage Application of PCT/EP2010/069473, filed Dec. 13, 2010, which claims priority to International Patent Application No. PCT/IB2009/056033, filed Dec. 14, 2009, all of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to use of inducible promoters in the production of methionine by fermentation.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Sulphur-containing compounds such as cysteine, homocysteine, methionine or S-adenosylmethionine are critical to cellular metabolism and are produced industrially to be used as food or feed additives and pharmaceuticals. In particular methionine, an essential amino acid, which cannot be synthesized by animals, plays an important role in many body functions. Aside from its role in protein biosynthesis, methionine is involved in transmethylation and in the bioavailability of selenium and zinc. Methionine is also directly used as a treatment for disorders like allergy and rheumatic fever. Nevertheless most of the methionine that is produced is added to animal feed.

With the decreased use of animal-derived proteins as a result of BSE and chicken flu, the demand for pure methionine has increased. Chemically D,L-methionine is commonly produced from acrolein, methyl mercaptan and hydrogen cyanide. Nevertheless the racemic mixture does not perform as well as pure L-methionine, as for example in chicken feed additives (Saunderson, C. L., (1985) British Journal of Nutrition 54, 621-633). Pure L-methionine can be produced from racemic methionine e.g. through the acylase treatment of N-acetyl-D,L-methionine which increases production costs dramatically. The increasing demand for pure L-methionine coupled to environmental concerns render microbial production of methionine attractive.

Use of inducible promoters in biotechnological processes is in the art of chemical biosynthesis. These promoters usually respond to chemical or physical stimuli exemplified by propionate (WO2007005837), zinc (WO2004020640) and arabinose (WO1998011231) or temperature (Microbial conversion of glycerol to 1,3-propanediol by an engineered strain of Escherichia coli. Tang X, Tan Y, Zhu H, Zhao K, Shen W. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2009 March; 75(6):1628-34.) and light, respectively.

Methionine production relies on several precursor providing pathways. Efficient methionine production requires fine tuning of these pathways. For maximum methionine production it can be beneficial to be able to modulate the expression of certain key enzymes during the process. For example (i) the expression of certain enzymes is only required during the production phase and not during the generation of the biomass or vice versa. Other enzymes are only beneficial in stationary phase. Therefore, use of inducible promoters may be of interest in improving the overall yield of producing methionine at an industrial level.

However, due to the complexity of the methionine metabolic pathway and the fine tuning of these pathways for an improved methionine production, use of inducible promoters to control expression of genes involved in methionine production was never considered and reported.

The inventors have found now that inducible promoters may be beneficial when used to regulate gene expression of genes involved in complex metabolic pathways such as methionine biosynthesis.

SUMMARY

The present invention concerns a method for the production of methionine, its precursors or derivatives in a fermentative process comprising the following steps:

-   -   culturing a modified microorganism in an appropriate culture         medium comprising a source of carbon, a source of sulphur and a         source of nitrogen, and     -   recovering methionine and/or its derivatives from the culture         medium, wherein in said modified microorganism, the expression         of at least one gene involved in methionine production is under         the control, direct or indirect, of a heterologous inducible         promoter.

The invention also concerns the microorganism modified for an improved methionine production in which expression of at least one gene involved in methionine production is under the control, direct or indirect, of a heterologous inducible promoter.

In one particular embodiment, the genes thrA, cysE and metA are under the control, direct or indirect of an heterologous inducible promoter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is related to a method for the production of methionine, its precursors or derivatives in a fermentative process comprising the following steps:

-   -   culturing a modified microorganism in an appropriate culture         medium comprising a source of carbon, a source of sulphur and a         source of nitrogen, and     -   recovering methionine and/or its derivatives from the culture         medium, wherein in said modified microorganism, the expression         of at least one gene involved in methionine production is under         the control, direct or indirect, of a heterologous inducible         promoter.

According to the invention, the terms “fermentative process′, ‘fermentation” or ‘culture’ are used interchangeably to denote the growth of bacteria on an appropriate growth medium containing a source of carbon, a source of sulphur and a source of nitrogen.

An “appropriate culture medium” is a medium appropriate for the culture and growth of the microorganism. Such media are well known in the art of fermentation of microorganisms, depending upon the microorganism to be cultured.

The term “microorganism” designates a bacterium, yeast or fungus. Preferentially, the microorganism is selected among Enterobacteriaceae, Bacillaceae, Streptomycetaceae and Corynebacteriaceae. More preferentially, the microorganism is a species of Escherichia, Klebsiella, Pantoea, Salmonella or Corynebacterium. Even more preferentially, the microorganism is either the species Escherichia coli or Corynebacterium glutamicum.

The term “modified microorganism” is a microorganism modified for an improved methionine production and denotes a microorganism that has been genetically modified with the goal to improve the production yield of methionine. According to the invention, “improved” or “improve” means that the amount of methionine produced by the microorganism, and particularly the methionine yield (ratio of methionine produced per carbon source), is higher in the modified microorganism compared to the corresponding unmodified microorganism. Usual modifications include introducing deletion of genes into microorganisms by transformation and recombination, gene replacements, and introduction of vectors for the expression of heterologous genes.

The modified microorganism used in the method of the invention has both characteristics:

-   -   it is modified for an improved methionine production, and     -   expression of at least one gene involved in methionine         production is under control, direct or indirect, of an inducible         promoter.

The phrase “recovering methionine and/or its derivatives from the culture medium” designates the action of recovering methionine, and possibly S-acyl methionine and N-acyl methionine compounds, such as N-acetyl methionine and N-propionyl methionine, and all other obtained derivatives.

The term “inducible promoter” denotes a promoter whose activity can be increased or decreased upon an external stimulus. Stimuli can be physical or chemical in nature, such as temperature, light, chemicals etc.

Induction of the target gene can be obtained via direct or indirect transmission of the stimulus.

Direct transmission is accomplished when the expression of one target gene is under the control of an inducible promoter.

Indirect transmission can be accomplished by using heterologous RNA-polymerases that are under the control of an inducible promoter and that recognize specific promoters driving the expression of target genes involved in methionine biosynthesis. In this case, the inducible promoter is not directly linked to the promoter of the target gene, but drives the expression of an RNA polymerase transcribing said promoter of the target gene.

These heterologous RNA polymerases can be e.g. T3 RNA polymerase, T7 RNA polymerase or other polymerase known to the expert in the field.

‘Indirect transmission’ also refers to the ‘polar effect’ of the inducible expression of one specific gene on the expression of its neighbouring genes. A “polar effect” designates the influence of a genetic modification in a gene on the expression of one or more genes which are downstream said modified gene.

In a specific aspect of the invention, the induction of specific genes involved in methionine production can lead to an induction of genes downstream of said specific genes.

The phrase “under the control of a heterologous inducible promoter” designates the fact that the inducible promoter is not the native promoter of the gene and was introduced in a way to control, at least partially, the level of expression of the gene that is operably linked to it. The activity of an inducible promoter is induced by the presence or absence of biotic or abiotic factors. Expression of genes can be turned on or off, according to the needs of the man skilled in the art. These promoters might be chemically-regulated (in presence of tetracycline, hormones, etc) or physically-regulated, especially by heat or light.

In a specific embodiment of the invention, the expression of at least one gene involved in methionine production is under the direct control of an inducible promoter.

In a first aspect of the invention, the inducible promoter is a physically-inducible promoter, in particular a temperature-inducible promoter or a light-inducible promoter.

The promoter is advantageously a temperature-inducible promoter, preferentially regulated by a modified repressor of phage lambda, the promoter PR or a derivative of PR, the promoter PL or a derivative of PL (A genetic switch. Ptashne M. Blackwell Scientific, Cambridge, Mass. 1986; A genetic switch: Phage lambda revisited. Ptashne M. Cold Spring Harbor Lab Press. Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 2004; The bacteriophages, Part II: Life of phages, 8. Gene regulatory circuitry of phage λ. Little J. 2^(nd) edition 2004. Richard Calendar.ed. Oxford University Press), and a modified lac promoter regulated by a temperature sensitive Lac repressor.

The repressor represses the expression from the cognate promoter by binding to specific binding sites in the promoter region thereby limiting the access of RNA polymerase to the promoter and reducing initiation or elongation of transcription. Advantageously, said repressor is the lambda repressor allele cI857 (On a thermosensitive repression system in the Escherichia coli lambda bacteriophage. Sussman R, Jacob F. C. R. Hebd. Seances Acad. Sci. 1962, 254, p1517) or another temperature-sensitive allele of the cI lambda repressor.

In a specific aspect of the invention, in the modified microorganism for the production of methionine, the gene encoding recA has been deleted. The protein RecA is known to act as a protease on cI. Therefore the deletion of the gene encoding RecA excludes proteolysis of the lambda repressor cI.

The temperature-inducible promoter might advantageously be chosen between the promoter PR or a derivative, and the promoter PL or a derivative.

In another embodiment, the temperature-inducible promoter is a modified lac promoter regulated by a temperature sensitive Lac repressor.

In a second aspect of the invention, the inducible promoter is chemically-regulated. In particular, the induction of the promoter's activity is linked to changes in the repression of carbon catabolite. Promoters that are activated by carbon catabolite repression are positively regulated via the activator CRP at low concentrations of glucose or in the absence of glucose.

Advantageously, the inducible promoter is induced by the presence of carbon sources or of sugar alcohols. Examples of promoters that are induced by carbon sources or sugar alcohols include the arabinose or raffinose promoter and the mannitol promoter or glucitol promoters, respectively.

According to a specific aspect of the invention, the expression of genes of interest is regulated via “indirect transmission”, i.e at least one gene involved in methionine production is transcribed by a heterologous RNA polymerase whose expression is under the control of an inducible promoter.

In a specific embodiment of the invention, the heterologous RNA polymerase is chosen from T7, T3 polymerase.

According to the invention, at least one gene involved in methionine production or the production of its precursors is under the control, direct or indirect, of a heterologous inducible promoter; as previously explained, either the gene is under the direct control of an inducible promoter, or the gene is transcribed by an inducible RNA polymerase or both combinations.

Genes involved in methionine production in a microorganism are known in the art, and comprise genes involved in the methionine specific biosynthesis pathway as well as genes involved in precursor-providing pathways and genes involved in methionine consuming pathways.

Efficient production of methionine requires the optimisation of the methionine specific pathway and several precursor-providing pathways. Methionine producing strains have been described in patent applications WO 2005/111202, WO 2007/077041, WO 2009/043803 and WO 2009/043372 and are incorporated as reference into this application.

A methionine producing strain that overexpresses homoserine succinyltransferase alleles with reduced feed-back sensitivity to its inhibitors SAM and methionine is described in patent application WO 2005/111202. This application describes also the combination of these alleles with a deletion of the methionine repressor MetJ (GenBank 1790373), responsible for the down-regulation of the methionine regulon as was suggested in patent application JP 2000/157267. In addition, combinations of the two modifications with the overexpression of aspartokinase/homoserine dehydrogenase are described in patent application WO 2005/111202.

The overexpression of the genes cysE, metH and metF has been suggested in WO 2007/077041.

To increase methionine production, at least one of the following genes involved in methionine production may be under the control of an inducible promoter.

-   a) The expression of genes involved in sulphur assimilation may     advantageously be under the control of an inducible promoter or of a     RNA polymerase:

gene accession number function cysK 1788754 cysteine synthase cysZ g1788753 ORF upstream of cysK cysN g1789108 ATP sulfurylase cysD g1789109 sulfate adenylyltransferase cysC g1789107 adenylylsulfate kinase cysZ 1788753 sulfate transport sbp 1790351 Periplasmic sulfate-binding protein

-   b) Anaplerotic reactions may be boosted by expressing the following     genes:

ppc 1790393 phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase pps 1787994 phosphoenolpyruvate synthase pyc CAB13359 pyruvate carboxylase (e.g from B. subtilis)

-   c) Acetate consuming reactions may be boosted by over expressing the     gene:

acs 1790505 acetyl-CoA synthetase

-   d) Enzymes directly involved in methionine biosynthesis:

metA 1790443 homoserine O-transsuccinylase metB 1790375 cystathionine gamma-synthase metC 1789383 cystathionine beta-lyase metE 2367304 5-methyltetrahydropteroyltriglutamate- homocysteine S-methyltransferase metF 1790377 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase metH 1790450 B12-dependent homocysteine-N5- methyltetrahydrofolate transmethylase, metK 1789311 methionine adenosyltransferase metL 1790376 aspartokinase II/homoserine dehydrogenase II

-   e) Enzymes involved in aspartate metabolism:

asd 1789841 aspartate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase aspC 1787159 aspartate aminotransferase lysC 1790455 aspartokinase III

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the expression of at least one of the genes thrA and/or cysE is under the control of an inducible promoter, directly or indirectly.

The enzyme ThrA or any of its homologues (MetL, LysC) catalyze reactions in the transformation of aspartate to homoserine, a precursor of methionine. The enzyme CysE catalyzes the O-acetylation of serine to form O-acetyl-serine that is the direct precursor of cysteine that in turn serves as sulphur donor for methionine biosynthesis.

Production of methionine may be further increased by using an altered metB allele that uses preferentially or exclusively H₂S and thus produces homocysteine from O-succinyl-homoserine as described in the patent application WO 2004/076659 that is incorporated herein by reference.

Further increase in methionine production may be obtained by attenuating the expression of the genes pykA, pykF and/or purU as described in patent application WO2009043803. This can also be accomplished by using an inducible promoter, directly or indirectly.

This application also describes methionine-producing strains in which the operons cysPUWAM, cysJIH and gcvTHP and the genes serA, serB, serC, lpd and glyA are overexpressed. Similarly this can be accomplished by using an inducible promoter, directly or indirectly.

Furthermore expression of genes in pathways degrading methionine (see list below) or deviating from the methionine production pathway may be attenuated using an inducible promoter, directly or indirectly. Attenuation in this context describes the reduction of the intracellular activity of an enzyme by measures such as reducing its expression, reducing the stability of the enzyme, increasing its degradation and/or other solutions known to the expert in the field. This can be accomplished by reducing the expression of the inducible promoter, i.e. eliminating the stimulus that induces the inducible promoter or reducing the expression of the inducible RNA polymerase.

Genbank Gene entry activity ackA 1788633 acetate kinase pta 1788635 phosphotransacetylase aceE 1786304 pyruvate deydrogenase E1 aceF 1786305 pyruvate deydrogenase E2 lpd 1786307 pyruvate deydrogenase E3 sucC 1786948 succinyl-CoA synthetase, beta subunit sucD 1786949 succinyl-CoA synthetase, alpha subunit pck 1789807 phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase maeB poxB 1787096 pyruvate oxidase ilvB 1790104 acetohydroxy acid synthase I, large subunit ilvN 1790103 acetohydroxy acid synthase I, small subunit ilvG 1790202 acetohydroxy acid synthase II, large subunit 1790203 ilvM 1790204 acetohydroxy acid synthase II, small subunit ilvI 1786265 acetohydroxy acid synthase III, large subunit ilvH 1786266 acetohydroxy acid synthase III, small subunit aroF 1788953 DAHP synthetase aroG 1786969 DAHP synthetase aroH 1787996 DAHP synthetase thrB 1786184 homoserine kinase thrC 1786185 threonine synthase sdaA 1788116 serine deaminase sdaB 1789161 serine deaminase speD 1786311 S-Adenosylmethionine decarboxylase speC 1789337 ornithine decarboxylase astA 1788043 arginine succinyltransferase dapA 1788823 dihydrodipicolinate synthase mdh 1789632 malate dehydrogenase mqo 1788539 malate dehydrogenase, FAD/NAD(P)-binding domain gltA 1786939 citrate synthase aceE 1786304 pyruvate dehydrogenase, E1 aceF 1786305 pyruvate dehydrogenase, E2

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the expression of at least one of the genes: thrA, cysE, metA, is under the control of an inducible promoter, directly or indirectly. In another specific embodiment, the genes thrA, cysE and metA are under control of an inducible promoter, directly or indirectly. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the expression of thrA gene is under direct control of an inducible promoter, and the expression of cysE gene is under a ‘polar effect’ of inducible expression of the thrA gene. In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the expression of thrA gene is under direct control of an inducible promoter, and the expressions of cysE and metA genes are under ‘polar effect’ of inducible expression of thrA gene.

In a specific embodiment, the three genes thrA, cysE and metA are under control of the same inducible promoter, such as the temperature inducible promoters disclosed above and in the examples.

In the invention, “thrA gene” means native thrA gene or thrA alleles with reduced feed-back sensitivity to threonine, such as described in WO2005/108561. According to the invention, “metA gene” means native metA genes or metA mutant alleles encoding enzyme with reduced feed-back sensitivity to methionine and S-adenosylmethionine, such as described in WO2005/108561.

Genes controlled by the inducible promoter may either be at its native position on the chromosome or integrated at a non-native position. One or several integrations of the gene controlled by the inducible promoter may be required for optimal methionine production. Similarly, one or several copies of the regulator gene may be required for optimal expression. Different ratios of repressor gene copies and promoters may be used to fine-tune expression.

The gene under the control of the inducible promoter is preferentially integrated into loci, whose modification does not have a negative impact on methionine production. Examples for loci into which the gene may be integrated are:

Accession Locus Number Function aaaD 87081759 Pseudogene, phage terminase protein A homolog, N-terminal fragment aaaE 1787395 Pseudogene, phage terminase protein A homolog, C-terminal fragment afuB 1786458 Pseudogene, ferric ABC family transporter permease; C-terminal fragment afuC 87081709 predicted ferric ABC transporter subunit (ATP-binding component) agaA 48994927 Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment, GalNAc-6-P deacetylase agaW 1789522 Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment, PTS system EIICGalNAc alpA 1788977 protease appY 1786776 DNA-binding transcriptional activator argF 1786469 ornithine carbamoyltransferase argU none arginine tRNA argW none Arginine tRNA(CCU) 5 arpB 87081959 Pseudogene reconstruction, ankyrin repeats arrD 1786768 lysozyme arrQ 1787836 Phage lambda lysozyme R protein homolog arsB 87082277 arsenite transporter arsC 1789918 arsenate reductase arsR 1789916 DNA-binding transcriptional repressor beeE 1787397 Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment, portal protein borD 1786770 bacteriophage lambda Bor protein homolog cohE 1787391 CI-like repressor croE 87081841 Cro-like repressor cspB 1787839 Cold shock protein cspF 1787840 Cold shock protein homolog cspI 1787834 Cold shock protein cybC 1790684 Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment, cytochrome b562 dicA 1787853 Regulatory for dicB dicB 1787857 Control of cell division dicC 1787852 Regulatory for dicB dicF none DicF antisense sRNA eaeH 1786488 Pseudogene, intimin homolog efeU 87081821 Pseudogene reconstruction, ferrous iron permease emrE 1786755 multidrug resistance pump essD 1786767 predicted phage lysis protein essQ 87081934 Phage lambda S lysis protein homolog exoD 1786750 Pseudogene, C-terminal exonuclease fragment eyeA none novel sRNA, unknown function flu 48994897 Antigen 43 flxA 1787849 unknown gapC 87081902 Pseudogene reconstruction, GAP dehydrogenase gatR 87082039 Pseudogene reconstruction, repressor for gat operon glvC 1790116 Pseudogene reconstruction glvG 1790115 Pseudogene reconstruction, 6-phospho-beta-glucosidase gnsB 87081932 Multicopy suppressor of secG(Cs) and fabA6(Ts) gtrA 1788691 Bactoprenol-linked glucose translocase gtrB 1788692 Bactoprenol glucosyl transferase gtrS 1788693 glucosyl transferase hokD 1787845 Small toxic membrane polypeptide icd 1787381 Isocitrate dehydrogenase icdC 87081844 pseudogene ilvG 87082328 Pseudogene reconstruction, acetohydroxy acid synthase II insA 1786204 IS1 gene, transposition function insA 1786204 IS1 gene, transposition function insB 1786203 IS1 insertion sequence transposase insB 1786203 IS1 insertion sequence transposase insC 1786557 IS2 gene, transposition function insD 1786558 IS2 gene, transposition function insD 1786558 IS2 gene, transposition function insE 1786489 IS3 gene, transposition function insF 1786490 IS3 gene, transposition function insH 1786453 IS5 gene, transposition function insH 1786453 IS5 gene, transposition function insH 1786453 IS5 gene, transposition function insI 1786450 IS30 gene, transposition function insI(−1) 1786450 IS30 gene, transposition function insM 87082409 Pseudogene, truncated IS600 transposase insN 1786449 Pseudogene reconstruction, IS911 transposase ORFAB insO none Pseudogene reconstruction, IS911 transposase ORFAB insX 87081710 Pseudogene, IS3 family transposase, N-terminal fragment insZ 1787491 Pseudogene reconstruction, IS4 transposase family, in ISZ′ intA 1788974 Integrase gene intB 1790722 Pseudogene reconstruction, P4-like integrase intD 1786748 predicted integrase intE 1787386 e14 integrase intF 2367104 predicted phage integrase intG 1788246 Pseudogene, integrase homolog intK 1787850 Pseudogene, integrase fragment intQ 1787861 Pseudogene, integrase fragment intR 1787607 Integrase gene intS 1788690 Integrase intZ 1788783 Putative integrase gene isrC none Novel sRNA, function unknown jayE 87081842 Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment, baseplate kilR 87081884 Killing function of the Rac prophage lafU none Pseudogene, lateral flagellar motor protein fragment lfhA 87081703 Pseudogene, lateral flagellar assembly protein fragment lit 1787385 Cell death peptidase lomR 1787632 Pseudogene reconstruction, lom homolog; outer membrane protein interrupted by IS5Y, missing N-terminus malS 1789995 α-amylase mcrA 1787406 5-methylcytosine-specific DNA binding protein mdtQ 87082057 Pseudogene reconstruction, lipoprotein drug pump OMF family melB 1790561 melibiose permease mmuM 1786456 homocysteine methyltransferase mmuP 870811708 S-methylmethionine permease mokA none Pseudogene, overlapping regulatory peptide, enables hokB ninE 1786760 unknown nmpC 1786765 Pseudogene reconstruction, OM porin, interrupted by IS5B nohD 1786773 DNA packaging protein nohQ 1787830 Pseudogene, phage lambda Nu1 homolog, terminase small subunit family, putative DNA packaging protein ogrK 1788398 Positive regulator of P2 growth ompT 1786777 outer membrane protease VII oweE none Pseudogene, lambda replication protein O homolog oweS 1788700 Pseudogene, lambda replication protein O homolog pauD none argU pseudogene, DLP12 prophage attachment site pawZ none CPS-53 prophage attachment site attR, argW pseudogene pbl 87082169 Pseudogene reconstruction, pilT homolog peaD 87081754 Pseudogene, phage lambda replication protein P family; C-terminal fragment perR 1786448 predicted DNA-binding transcriptional regulator pgaA 1787261 outer membrane porin of poly-β-1,6-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (PGA) biosynthesis pathway pgaB 1787260 PGA N-deacetylase pgaC 1787259 UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine β-1,6-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl transferase pgaD 1787258 predicted inner membrane protein phnE 87082370 Pseudogene reconstruction, phosphonate permease pinE 1787404 DNA invertase pinH 1789002 Pseudogene, DNA invertase, site-specific recombination pinQ 1787827 DNA invertase pinR 1787638 DNA invertase prfH 1786431 Pseudogene, protein release factor homolog psaA none ssrA pseudogene, CP4-57 attachment site duplication ptwF none thrW pseudogene, CP4-6 prophage attachment site quuD 1786763 predicted antitermination protein quuQ 87081935 Lambda Q antitermination protein homolog racC 1787614 unknown racR 1787619 Rac prophage repressor, cI-like ralR 1787610 Restriction alleviation gene rbsA 1790190 D-ribose ABC transporter subunit (ATP-binding component) rbsD 87082327 D-ribose pyranase recE 1787612 RecET recombinase recT 1787611 RecET recombinase relB 1787847 Antitoxin for RelE relE 1787846 Sequence-specific mRNA endoribonuclease rem 1787844 unknown renD 87081755 Pseudogene reconstruction, lambda ren homolog, interrupted by IS3C; putative activator of lit transcription rhsE 1787728 Pseudogene, rhs family, encoded within RhsE repeat rnlA 1788983 RNase LS, endoribonuclease rph 1790074 Pseudogene reconstruction, RNase PH rusA 1786762 Endonuclease rzoD 87081757 Probable Rz1-like lipoprotein rzoQ none Probable Rz1-like lipoprotein rzoR 87081890 Probable Rz1-like lipoprotein rzpD 1786769 predicted murein endopeptidase rzpQ 1787835 Rz-like equivalent rzpR 87081889 Pseudogene, Rz homolog sieB 87081885 Superinfection exclusion protein sokA none Pseudogene, antisense sRNA blocking mokA/hokA translation stfE 87081843 C-terminal Stf variable cassette, alternate virion-host specificity protein; Tail Collar domain, pseudogene stfP 1787400 Predicted tail fiber protein stfR 87081892 Side-tail fiber protein tfaD 87081759 Pseudogene, tail fiber assembly gene, C-terminal fragment tfaE 1787402 Predicted tail fiber assembly gene tfaP 1787401 Predicted tail fiber assembly gene tfaQ 2367120 Phage lambda tail fiber assembly gene homolog tfaR 1787637 Phage lambda tail fiber assembly gene homolog tfaS 87082088 Pseudogene, tail fiber assembly gene, C-terminal fragment tfaX 2367110 Pseudogene reconstruction, tail fiber assembly gene, C-terminal fragment thrW none threonine tRNA (attachment site of the CP4-6 prophage) torI 87082092 CPS-53/KpLE1 exisionase treB 2367362 subunit of trehalose PTS permease (IIB/IIC domains) treC 1790687 trehalose-6-phosphate hydrolase trkG 1787626 Major constitutive K+ uptake permease ttcA 1787607 Integrase gene ttcC none Pseudogene, prophage Rac integration site ttcA duplication uidB 1787902 Glucuronide permease, inactive point mutant uxaA 1789475 altronate hydrolase uxaC 2367192 uronate isomerase wbbL 1788343 Pseudogene reconstruction, rhamnosyl transferase wcaM 1788356 predicted colanic acid biosynthesis protein xisD none Pseudogene, exisionase fragment in defective prophage DLP12 xisE 1787387 e14 excisionase yabP 1786242 Pseudogene reconstruction yafF 87081701 Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment, H repeat-associated protein yafU 1786411 Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment yafW 1786440 antitoxin of the YkfI-YafW toxin-antitoxin system yafX 1786442 unknown yafY 1786445 predicted DNA-binding transcriptional regulator; inner membrane lipoprotein yafZ 87081705 unknown yagA 1786462 predicted DNA-binding transcriptional regulator yagB 87081711 Pseudogene, antitoxin-related, N-terminal fragment yagE 1786463 predicted lyase/synthase yagF 1786464 predicted dehydratase yagG 1786466 putative sugar symporter yagH 1786467 putative β-xylosidase yagI 1786468 predicted DNA-binding transcriptional regulator yagJ 1786472 unknown yagK 1786473 unknown yagL 1786474 DNA-binding protein yagM 2367101 unknown yagN 2367102 unknown yagP 1786476 Pseudogene, LysR family, fragment yaiT 1786569 Pseudogene reconstruction, autotransporter family yaiX 87082443 Pseudogene reconstruction, interrupted by IS2A ybbD 1786709 Pseudogene reconstruction, novel conserved family ybcK 1786756 predicted recombinase ybcL 1786757 predicted kinase inhibitor ybcM 1786758 predicted DNA-binding transcriptional regulator ybcN 1786759 DNA base-flipping protein ybcO 1786761 unknown ybcV 87081758 unknown ybcW 1786772 unknown ybcY 48994878 Pseudogene reconstruction, methyltransferase family ybeM 1786843 Pseudogene reconstruction, putative CN hydrolase ybfG 87081771 Pseudogene reconstruction, novel conserved family ybfI none Pseudogene reconstruction, KdpE homolog ybfL 87081775 Pseudogene reconstruction, H repeat-associated protein ybfO 1786921 Pseudogene, copy of Rhs core with unique extension ycgH 87081847 Pseudogene reconstruction ycgI 1787421 Pseudogene reconstruction, autotransporter homolog ycjV 1787577 Pseudogene reconstruction, malK paralog ydaC 1787609 unknown ydaE 87081883 Metallothionein ydaF 87081886 unknown ydaG 87081887 unknown ydaQ 87081882 Putative exisionase ydaS 1787620 unknown ydaT 1787621 unknown ydaU 1787622 unknown ydaV 1787623 unknown ydaW 87081888 Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment ydaY 1787629 pseudogene ydbA 87081898 Pseudogene reconstruction, autotransporter homolog yddK 1787745 Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment, leucine-rich yddL 1787746 Pseudogene, OmpCFN porin family, N-terminal fragment ydeT 1787782 Pseudogene, FimD family, C-terminal fragment ydfA 1787854 unknown ydfB 87081937 unknown ydfC 1787856 unknown ydfD 1787858 unknown ydfE 1787859 Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment ydfJ 1787824 Pseudogene reconstruction, MFS family ydfK 1787826 Cold shock gene ydfO 87081931 unknown ydfR 1787837 unknown ydfU 87081936 unknown ydfV 1787848 unknown ydfX 1787851 pseudogene yedN 87082002 Pseudogene reconstruction, IpaH/YopM family yedS 87082009 Pseudogene reconstruction, outer membrane protein homolog yeeH none Pseudogene, internal fragment yeeL 87082016 Pseudogene reconstruction, glycosyltransferase family yeeP 87082019 Pseudogene, putative GTP-binding protein yeeR 87082020 unknown yeeS 1788312 unknown yeeT 1788313 unknown yeeU 1788314 Antitoxin component of toxin-antitoxin protein pair YeeV-YeeU yeeV 1788315 Toxin component of toxin-antitoxin protein pair YeeV-YeeU yeeW 1788316 pseudogene yegZ none Pseudogene, gpD phage P2-like protein D; C-terminal fragment yehH 87082046 Pseudogene reconstruction yehQ 87082050 Pseudogene reconstruction yejO 1788516 Pseudogene reconstruction, autotransporter homolog yfaH 1788571 Pseudogene reconstruction, C-terminal fragment, LysR homolog yfaS 87082066 Pseudogene reconstruction yfcU 1788678 Pseudogene reconstruction, FimD family yfdK 1788696 unknown yfdL 1788697 Pseudogene, tail fiber protein yfdM 87082089 Pseudogene, intact gene encodes a predicted DNA adenine methyltransferase yfdN 1788699 unknown yfdP 1788701 unknown yfdQ 1788702 unknown yfdR 87082090 unknown yfdS 1788704 unknown yfdT 1788705 unknown yffL 1788784 unknown yffM 1788785 unknown yffN 1788786 unknown yffO 1788787 unknown yffP 1788788 unknown yffQ 1788790 unknown yffR 1788791 unknown yffS 1788792 unknown yfjH 1788976 unknown yfjI 1788978 unknown yfjJ 1788979 unknown yfjK 1788980 unknown yfjL 1788981 unknown yfjM 1788982 unknown yfjO 87082140 unknown yfjP 48994902 unknown yfjQ 1788987 unknown yfjR 1788988 unknown yfjS 87082142 unknown yfjT 1788990 unknown yfjU 1788991 pseudogene yfjV 1788992 Pseudogene reconstruction, arsB-like C-terminal fragment yfjW 2367146 unknown yfjX 1788996 unknown yfjY 1788997 unknown yfjZ 1788998 Antitoxin component of putative toxin-antitoxin YpjF-YfjZ ygaQ 1789007 Pseudogene reconstruction, has alpha-amylase-related domain ygaY 1789035 Pseudogene reconstruction, MFS family ygeF 2367169 Pseudogene reconstruction, part of T3SS PAI ETT2 remnant ygeK 87082170 Pseudogene reconstruction, part of T3SS PAI ETT2 remnant ygeN 1789221 Pseudogene reconstruction, orgB homolog ygeO 1789223 Pseudogene, orgA homolog, part of T3SS PAI ETT2 remnant ygeQ 1789226 Pseudogene reconstruction, part of T3SS PAI ETT2 remnant yghE 1789340 Pseudogene reconstruction, general secretion protein family yghF 1789341 Pseudogene, general secretion protein yghO 1789354 Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment yghX 1789373 Pseudogene reconstruction, S9 peptidase family yhcE 1789611 Pseudogene reconstruction, interrupted by IS5R yhdW 1789668 Pseudogene reconstruction yhiL 87082275 Pseudogene reconstruction, FliA regulated yhiS 1789920 Pseudogene reconstruction, interrupted by IS5T yhjQ 1789955 Pseudogene reconstruction yibJ 48994952 Pseudogene reconstruction, Rhs family yibS none Pseudogene reconstruction, Rhs family, C-terminal fragment yibU none Pseudogene reconstruction, H repeat-associated protein yibW none Pseudogene reconstruction, rhsA-linked yicT none Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment yifN 2367279 Pseudogene reconstruction yjbI 1790471 Pseudogene reconstruction yjdQ none Pseudogene reconstruction, P4-like integrase remnant yjgX 1790726 Pseudogene reconstruction, EptAB family yjhD 87082406 Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment yjhE 87082407 Pseudogene, putative transporter remnant yjhR 1790762 Pseudogene reconstruction, helicase family, C-terminal fragment yjhV 1790738 Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment yjhY none Pseudogene reconstruction, novel zinc finger family yjhZ none Pseudogene reconstruction, rimK paralog, C-terminal fragment yjiP 1790795 Pseudogene reconstruction, transposase family yjiT 87082428 Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment yjiV none Pseudogene reconstruction, helicase-like, C-terminal fragment yjjN 87082432 predicted oxidoreductase ykfA 87081706 putative GTP-binding protein ykfB 1786444 unknown ykfC 87081707 Pseudogene, retron-type reverse transcriptase family, N-terminal fragment ykfF 1786443 unknown ykfG 2367100 unknown ykfH 87081704 unknown ykfI 1786439 toxin of the YkfI-YafW toxin-antitoxin system ykfJ 1786430 Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment ykfK 1786445 Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment ykfL none Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment ykfN none Pseudogene, N-terminal remnant, YdiA family ykgA 87081714 Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment, AraC family ykgP none Pseudogene, oxidoreductase fragment ykgQ none Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment of a putative dehydrogenase ykgS none Pseudogene internal fragment ykiA 1786591 Pseudogene reconstruction, C-terminal fragment ylbE 1786730 Pseudogene reconstruction, yahG paralog ylbG 87081748 Pseudogene reconstruction, discontinuous N-terminal fragment ylbH 1786708 Pseudogene, copy of Rhs core with unique extension ylbI none Pseudogene, internal fragment, Rhs family ylcG 87081756 unknown ylcH none unknown ylcI none unknown ymdE 87081823 Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment ymfD 1787383 Putative SAM-dependent methyltransferase ymfE 1787384 unknown ymfI 87081839 unknown ymfJ 87081840 unknown ymfL 1787393 unknown ymfM 1787394 unknown ymfQ 1787399 Putative baseplate or tail fiber proteintt ymfR 1787396 unknown ymjC none Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment ymjD none Expressed deletion pseudogene fusion remnant protein ynaA 1787631 Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment ynaE 1787639 Cold shock gene ynaK 1787628 unknown yncI 1787731 Pseudogene reconstruction, H repeat-associated, RhsE-linked yncK none Pseudogene reconstruction, transposase homolog yneL 1787784 Pseudogene reconstruction, C-terminal fragment, AraC family yneO 1787788 Pseudogene reconstruction, putative OM autotransporter adhesi ynfN 87081933 Cold shock gene ynfO none unknown yoeA 87082018 Pseudogene reconstruction, interrupted by IS2F yoeD none Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment of a putative transposase yoeF 87082021 Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment yoeG none pseudogene, N-terminal fragment yoeH none pseudogene, C-terminal fragment ypdJ 87082091 Pseudogene, exisonase fragment ypjC 1789003 Pseudogene reconstruction ypjF 1788999 Toxin component of putative toxin-antitoxin pair YpjF-YfjZ ypjI none Pseudogene reconstruction ypjJ 87082144 unknown ypjK 87082141 unknown yqfE 1789281 Pseudogene reconstruction, C-terminal fragment, LysR family yqiG 48994919 Pseudogene reconstruction, FimD family, interrupted by IS2I yrdE none Pseudogene reconstruction, C-terminal fragment, yedZ paralog yrdF none Pseudogene, N-terminal fragment yrhA 87082266 Pseudogene reconstruction, interrupted by IS1E yrhC 87082273 Pseudogene reconstruction, N-terminal fragment ysaC none Pseudogene, C-terminal remnant ysaD none Pseudogene, internal sequence remnant ytfA 1790650 Pseudogene, C-terminal fragment yzgL 87082264 Pseudogene, putative periplasmic solute binding protein

In the description of the present invention, genes and proteins are identified using the denominations of the corresponding genes in E. coli. However, and unless specified otherwise, use of these denominations has a more general meaning according to the invention and covers all the corresponding genes and proteins in other organisms, more particularly microorganisms.

Using the references given in GenBank for known genes, those skilled in the art are able to determine the equivalent genes in other organisms, bacterial strains, yeasts, fungi, mammals, plants, etc. This routine work is advantageously done using consensus sequences that can be determined by carrying out sequence alignments with genes derived from other microorganisms, and designing degenerate probes to clone the corresponding gene in another organism. These routine methods of molecular biology are well known to those skilled in the art, and are claimed, for example, in Sambrook et al. (1989 Molecular Cloning: a Laboratory Manual. 2^(nd) ed. Cold Spring Harbor Lab., Cold Spring Harbor, New York.) PFAM (protein families database of alignments and hidden Markov models available on the SANGER website) represents a large collection of protein sequence alignments. Each PFAM makes it possible to visualize multiple alignments, see protein domains, evaluate distribution among organisms, gain access to other databases, and visualize known protein structures.

COGs (clusters of orthologous groups of proteins; available on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website are obtained by comparing protein sequences from fully sequenced genomes representing major phylogenic lines. Each COG is defined from at least three lines, which permits the identification of former conserved domains.

The means of identifying homologous sequences and their percentage homologies are well known to those skilled in the art, and include in particular the BLAST programs, which are available on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website with the default parameters indicated on that website. The sequences obtained can then be exploited (e.g., aligned) using, for example, the programs CLUSTALW available on the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) website or MULTALIN (bioinfo.genotoul.fr/multalin/multalin.html), with the default parameters indicated on those websites.

The method for the production of methionine, its precursors or derivatives in a fermentative process, is well known by the man skilled in the art. Different factors of the fermentative process can be modulated for the optimization of the process, such as the choice of the sulfur source, of the carbon source, and of the nitrogen source.

In a preferred aspect of the invention, the sulphur source used for the fermentative production of L-methionine, added in the culture medium, is sulfate, thiosulfate, hydrogen sulfide, dithionate, dithionite, sulfite, methylmercaptan, dimethyldisulfide and other methyl capped sulfides or a combination of the different sources.

More preferentially, the sulphur source in the culture medium is sulfate or thiosulfate, or a mixture thereof.

The term ‘carbon source’ according to the present invention denotes any source of carbon that can be used by those skilled in the art to support the normal growth of a microorganism, which can be hexoses (such as glucose, galactose or lactose), pentoses, monosaccharides, disaccharides (such as sucrose, cellobiose or maltose), oligosaccharides, molasses, starch or its derivatives, hemicelluloses, glycerol and combinations thereof. An especially preferred carbon source is glucose. Another preferred carbon source is sucrose.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, the carbon source is derived from renewable feed-stock. Renewable feed-stock is defined as raw material required for certain industrial processes that can be regenerated within a brief delay and in sufficient amount to permit its transformation into the desired product.

The term nitrogen source corresponds to either an ammonium salt or ammoniac gas.

The nitrogen source is supplied in the form of ammonium or ammoniac.

The fermentation is generally conducted in fermenters with an appropriate culture medium adapted to the microorganism being used, containing at least one simple carbon source, and if necessary co-substrates for the production of metabolites.

Those skilled in the art are able to define the culture conditions for the microorganisms according to the invention. In particular the bacteria are fermented at a temperature between 20° C. and 55° C., preferentially between 25° C. and 40° C., and more specifically about 30° C. for C. glutamicum and about 37° C. for E. coli.

As an example of known culture medium for E. coli, the culture medium can be of identical or similar composition to an M9 medium (Anderson, 1946, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 32:120-128), an M63 medium (Miller, 1992; A Short Course in Bacterial Genetics: A Laboratory Manual and Handbook for Escherichia coli and Related Bacteria, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) or a medium such as defined by Schaefer et al. (1999, Anal. Biochem. 270: 88-96).

As an example of known culture mefium for C. glutamicum, the culture medium can be of identical or similar composition to BMCG medium (Liebl et al., 1989, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 32: 205-210) or to a medium such as described by Riedel et al. (2001, 0.1 Mol. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 3: 573-583).

The present invention is also related to a method for the production of methionine, comprising the step of isolation of methionine, its precursors or derivatives, of the fermentation broth and/or the biomass, optionally remaining in portions or in the total amount (0-100%) in the end product.

In a specific aspect of the invention, the culture is performed in such conditions that the microorganism is limited or starved for an inorganic substrate, in particular phosphate and/or potassium.

Subjecting an organism to a limitation of an inorganic substrate defines a condition under which growth of the microorganisms is governed by the quantity of an inorganic chemical supplied that still permits weak growth.

Starving a microorganism for an inorganic substrate defines the condition under which growth of the microorganism stops completely due, to the absence of the inorganic substrate.

The present invention is also related to a microorganism comprising at least one of the modifications such as described above.

EXAMPLE I Construction of Strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB (pCC1BAC-serA-Serf) (pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11)

Methionine producing strains with reduced N-acetyl methionine accumulation have been described in patent applications WO2007077041 and WO2009043803 which are incorporated as reference into this application.

1. Construction of the Strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB::Km

To increase the level of phosphoserine phosphatase, SerB, a constitutive artificial trc promoter was added upstream of the serB gene into the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA.

To add this artificial trc promoter, the homologous recombination strategy described by Datsenko & Wanner (2000) was used. This strategy allows the insertion of a kanamycin resistance cassette, but also an additional DNA region, specifically in the chromosome. For this purpose two oligonucleotides, Ptrc07-serBF (SEQ ID No 01) and Ptrc07-serBR (SEQ ID No 02), were used (reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website).

Ptrc07-serBF (SEQ ID No01) CCACCCTTTGAAAATTTGAGACTTAATGTTGCCAGAAGCAATGGATACAA GGTAGCCTCATGCTCACACTGGCTCACCTTCGGGTGGGCCTTTCTGC CAT ATGAATATCCTCCTTAG

with

-   -   a region (upper case) homologous to the sequence from 4622816 to         4622878 of the region of the gene serB,     -   a region (upper underlined case) for T7Te transcriptional         terminator sequence from T7 phage (Harrington K. J.,         Laughlin R. B. and Liang S. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2001 Apr.         24; 98(9):5019-24.),     -   a region (upper bold case) for the amplification of the         kanamycin resistance cassette (reference sequence in         Datsenko, K. A. & Wanner, B. L., 2000, PNAS, 97: 6640-6645).

Ptrc07-serBR (SEQ ID No02) CGCACCAGGTAATGTTAGGCATTAAGGCTCCTGTAAAATCGTTCGAAGCA GGGAAAATAACTTCCACACATTATACGAGCCGGATGATTAATCGCCAACA GCT TGTAGGCTGGAGCTGCTTCG

with

-   -   a region (upper case) homologous to the sequence from 4622939 to         4622879 of the region of the gene serB,     -   a region (upper italic case) for the trc promoter sequence,     -   a region (upper bold case) for the amplification of the         kanamycin resistance cassette (reference sequence in         Datsenko, K. A. & Wanner, B. L., 2000, PNAS, 97: 6640-6645).

The oligonucleotides Ptrc07-serBF (SEQ ID No 01) and Ptrc07-serBR (SEQ ID No 02) were used to amplify the kanamycin resistance cassette from the plasmid pKD4. The obtained PCR product was then introduced by electroporation into the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA (pKD46), in which the expressed Red recombinase enzyme permits the homologous recombination. The kanamycin resistant transformants were then selected, and the insertion of the resistance cassette was verified by a PCR analysis with the oligonucleotides serBF (SEQ ID No 03) and serBR (SEQ ID No 04) defined below. Then the selected transformants were verified by DNA sequencing. The strain retained was designated MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB::Km.

serBF (SEQ ID No03) CAAGGCAAGACAGAACAGG (homologous to the sequence from 4622747 to 4622765 of the region of the gene serB). serBR (SEQ ID No04) GGCATCACTTCATCACCAC (homologous to the sequence from 4623006 to 4622988 of the region of the gene serB).

2. Construction of the Strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB

Subsequently the kanamycin resistance cassette was eliminated. The pCP20 plasmid, carrying recombinase FLP acting at the FRT sites of the kanamycine resistance cassette, was introduced into the recombinant strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB::Km by electroporation. After a series of cultures at 42° C., the loss of the kanamycin resistance cassette was verified by PCR analysis with the same oligonucleotides as those used previously, serBF (SEQ ID No 03)/serBR (SEQ ID No 04). The strain retained was designated MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB.

3. Construction of the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB (pCC1BAC-serA-serC)

The construction of the pCC1BAC-serA-serC vector has been described in WO2009043803.

The pCC1BAC-serA-serC vector was introduced by electroporation into the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB giving the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB (pCC1BAC-serA-serC).

4. Construction of the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB (pCC1BAC-serA-serC) (pCL1920-TTadc-C1857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11)

The pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 plasmid is derived from plasmids pCL1920 (Lerner & Inouye, 1990, NAR 18, 15 p 4631), pME101-thrA*1-cysE and pFC1 (Mermet-Bouvier & Chauvat, 1994, Current Microbiology, vol. 28, pp 145-148).

The construction of pME101-thrA*1-cysE was described in WO2007077041. For the construction of the plasmid pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11, TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE and PgapA-metA*11 regions were individually obtained by overlapping PCR, then cloned together in the pCL1920 vector.

First, the TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35) region was PCR amplified from the pFC1 vector by using the following oligonucleotides, ApaI-TTadc-CI857-F-1 (SEQ ID No 05) and PlambdaR-thrA-R-2 (SEQ ID No 06) (reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website and www.genome.jp/dbget-bin/www_bfind?C. acetobutylicum). Secondly, the thrA*1-cysE region was PCR amplified from the pME101-thrA*1-cysE plasmid using the oligonucleotides PlambdaR-thrA-F-3 (SEQ ID No 07) and cysE-R-4 (SEQ ID No 08) (reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website). Both PlambdaR-thrA-R-2 (SEQ ID No 06) and PlambdaR-thrA-F-3 (SEQ ID No 07) oligonucleotides were designed to possess a 32 bp long overlapping sequence. Owing this overlapping sequence, in a third step, the TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE region was PCR amplified by mixing the TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35) and thrA*1-cysE PCR products and by using the ApaI-TTadc-CI857-F-1 (SEQ ID No 05) and cysE-R-4 (SEQ ID No 08) oligonucleotides. Then this PCR product was cloned in the pSCB (Stratagene) and the resulting vector was verified by sequencing and named pSCB-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE.

ApaI-TTadc-CI857-F-1 (SEQ ID No05) accttgccgaGGGCCCTAAAAATAAGAGTTACCTTAAATGGTAACTCTTA TTTTTTTTATCAGCCAAACGTCTCTTCAGGCC with

-   -   a region (lower case) with extra-bases,     -   a region (upper underlined case) harbouring the ApaI site,     -   a region (upper case) for TTadc transcriptional terminator         sequence (transcription terminator of the adc gene from         Clostridium acetobutylicum, homologous from 179847 to 179807 of         the pSLO1 megaplasmid),     -   a region (upper bold case) homologous to the 3′ extremity of the         cI857 gene from lambda bacteriophage.

PlambdaR-thrA-R-2 (SEQ ID No06) CAACACTC

CATATGACCTCCTTAGTACATGCAACCATTATCACCGCCA GAGGTAAAATTGTCAACACGCACGGTGTTAGATATTTATCCCTTGC with

-   -   a region (upper bold case) homologous to the 5′ extremity of the         thrA gene (from 337 to 348, except for 1 base (upper bold italic         case))     -   a region (upper case) homologous to the lambda bacteriophage         P_(R) promoter, except 1 base (upper italic case) to obtain the         *(−35) version of the P_(R), variant form in which the −35 box         is modified to obtain the −35 consensus (from TTGACT to TTGACA)     -   an overlapping region with the PlambdaR-thrA-F-3 oligonucleotide         (upper underlined case).

PlambdaR-thrA-F-3 (SEQ ID No07) GCATGTACTAAGGAGGTCATATG

GAGTGTTG AAGTTCGGCGGTACATC AGTGGCAAATGC with

-   -   a region (upper case) homologous to the lambda bacteriophage         P_(R) promoter,     -   a region (upper bold case) homologous to the 5′ extremity of the         thrA gene (from 337 to 377, except for 1 base (upper bold italic         case))     -   an overlapping region with the PlambdaR-thrA-R-2 oligonucleotide         (upper underlined case)

cysE-R-4 (SEQ ID No08) AGCTTGCATGCCTGCAGGTCG (homologous to the cysE downstream region of the pME101-thrA*1-cysE plasmid)

To transfer the thrA*1 and cysE genes in a low copy vector, the pSCB-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE vector was restricted by BsrBI and BamHI and the TTadc-C1857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE fragment cloned into the SmaI/BamHI sites of the vector pCL1920, resulting in the vector pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE.

Subsequently, the PgapA-metA*11 region was amplified from the MG1655 metA*11 strain by an overlapping PCR. First, the PgapA promoter was PCR amplified using the oligonucleotides SmaI-PgapA-F (SEQ ID No 09) and PgapA-metA*11-R (SEQ ID No 10) (reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website). Secondly, the metA*11 gene was PCR amplified by using the oligonucleotides PgapA-metA*11-F (SEQ ID No 11) and BamHI-metA*11-R (SEQ ID No 12) (reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website). Both PgapA-metA*11-R (SEQ ID No 10) and PgapA-metA*11-F (SEQ ID No 11) were designed to overlap for their entire sequence. Owing this particularity, in a third step, the PgapA-metA*11 region was PCR amplified by mixing the metA*11 and PgapA PCR products and by using the SmaI-PgapA-F (SEQ ID No 09) and BamHI-metA*11-R (SEQ ID No 12) oligonucleotides. The PCR product was restricted by SmaI and BamHI, then the digested fragment was blunted in order to clone it into the blunted BamHI site of the vector pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE. The resulting vector was verified by sequencing and named pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11.

SmaI-PgapA-F (SEQ ID No09) acgtCCCGGGCAAGCCCAAAGGAAGAGTGAGGC with

-   -   a region (lower case) with extra-bases,     -   a region (upper underlined case) harbouring the SmaI site,     -   a region (upper case) homologous from 1860639 to 1860661 of the         PgapA promoter sequence of Escherichia coli).

PgapA-metA*11-R (SEQ ID No10) GGCGGGTAGCTCGTCCGGCACACGAATCGGCATATATTCCACCAGCTATT TGTTAGTGAATAAAAGG with

-   -   a region (upper bold case) homologous from 4212335 to 4212303 of         the metA gene     -   a region (upper case) homologous from 1860794 to 1860761 of the         PgapA promoter sequence

PgapA-metA*11-F (SEQ ID No11) CCTTTTATTCACTAACAAATAGCTGGTGGAATATATGCCGATTCGTGTGC CGGACGAGCTACCCGCC with

-   -   a region (upper bold case) homologous from 4212335 to 4212303 of         the metA gene     -   a region (upper case) homologous from 1860794 to 1860761 of the         PgapA promoter sequence

BamHI-metA*11-R (SEQ ID No12) acgtGGATCC GAATTC CGACTATCACAGAAGATTAATCCAGCGTTGG with

-   -   a region (lower case) with extra-bases,     -   a region (upper underlined case) harbouring the BamHI site,     -   a region (upper italic case) harbouring the EcoRI site,     -   a region (upper bold case) homologous from 4213248 to 4213218 of         the metA gene sequence.

Finally, the vector pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 was introduced by electroporation into the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB (pCC1BAC-serA-serC) resulting in the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB (pCC1BAC-serA-serC) (pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11).

5. Evaluation of Temperature Dependent Methionine Production

Strain 1: MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA Ptrc07-serB (pCC1BAC-serA-serC) (pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11)

Production strains were evaluated in small Erlenmeyer flasks. A 5.5 mL preculture was grown at 30° C. for 21 hours in a mixed medium (10% LB medium (Sigma 25%) with 2.5 mg·L⁻¹ glucose and 90% minimal medium PC1). It was used to inoculate a 50 mL culture to an OD₆₀₀ of 0.2 in medium PC1. Spectinomycin was added at a concentration of 50 mg·L⁻¹, chloramphenicol at 30 mg·L⁻¹. The temperature of the culture was either 30° C. or 37° C. When the culture had reached an OD₆₀₀ of 5 to 7, extracellular amino acids were quantified by HPLC after OPA/Fmoc derivatization and other relevant metabolites were analyzed using HPLC with refractometric detection (organic acids and glucose) and GC-MS after silylation. For each condition, three repetitions were made.

TABLE 1 Minimal medium composition (PC1) Compound Concentration (g · L⁻¹) ZnSO₄•7H₂O 0.0040 CuCl₂•2H₂O 0.0020 MnSO₄•H₂O 0.0200 CoCl₂•6H₂O 0.0080 H₃BO₃ 0.0010 Na₂MoO₄•2H₂O 0.0004 MgSO₄•7H₂O 1.00 Citric acid 6.00 CaCl₂•2H₂O 0.04 K₂HPO₄•3H₂O 10.50 Na₂HPO₄ 2.00 (NH₄)₂HPO₄ 8.00 NH₄Cl 0.13 NaOH 4M Adjusted to pH 6.8 FeSO_(4•)7H₂O 0.04 Thiamine 0.01 Glucose 10.00 Ammonium thiosulfate 5.60 Vitamin B12 0.01 MOPS 10.00 IPTG 0.0024

TABLE 2 Methionine yield (Y_(met)) in % g methionine/g of glucose produced in batch culture by the strain 1 under different culture conditions. For the definition of methionine/glucose yield see below. Condition Y_(met) SD N Strain 1 -Preculture 30° C. + Culture 30° C. 10.6 0.4 3 Strain 1 -Preculture 30° C. + Culture 37° C. 12.9 0.8 9 Strain 1 -Preculture 37° C. + Culture 37° C. 7.4 0.9 6 SD denotes the standard deviation for the yields which was calculated on the basis of several repetitions (N = number of repetitions).

Extracellular methionine concentration was quantified by HPLC after OPA/FMOC derivatization. The residual glucose concentration was analyzed using HPLC with refractometric detection. The methionine yield was expressed as followed:

$Y_{met} = {\frac{{methionine}\mspace{11mu}(g)}{{consummed}\mspace{14mu}{glucose}\mspace{14mu}(g)}*100}$

As shown in table 2 thermo-induction of the expression of genes thrA and cysE during the culture process increases the amount of methionine produced. Constitutive expression throughout the culture process results in low methionine yield.

Table 3 shows that upon induction HDH and SAT activities are increased. Constituve expression of thrA and cysE results in levels of HDH and SAT activity that are between non-induced and induced conditions, explaining in part the lower methionine yield. Other cellular factors most likely impact on these activities upon constitutive expression and decrease the activities. In conclusion these results demonstrate that the induction of thrA and cysE is truly beneficial for increasing methionine yield.

TABLE 3 Homoserine dehydrogenase (HDH) and serine acetyltransferase (SAT) activities were determined in the above described cultures and are given in mUI/mg DW. condition HDH SAT N Strain 1 - Preculture 30° C. + Culture 30° C. 33 ± 0  40 ± 12 3 Strain 1 - Preculture 30° C. + Culture 37° C.  94 ± 15 246 ± 12 3 Strain 1 - Preculture 37° C. + Culture 37° C. 51 ± 1 148 ± 28 3 Standard deviations were calculated on the basis of several independent cultures (N = number of repetitions).

For the determination of enzyme activities in vitro, E. coli strains were cultured in minimal medium as described above.

Determination of SAT activity has been described in WO 2007077041.

For the determination of HDH activity in vitro, E. coli cells were resuspended in cold 20 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH7.2) and sonicated on ice (Branson sonifier, 70 W). After centrifugation, protein contained in the supernatants was quantified (Bradford, 1976). 10 μL extract (1.5 μg/mL protein) were assayed in 100 mM Tris-HCl pH9, 150 mM KCl, 1 mM NADP⁺ and 25 mM L-Homoserine for 10 minutes at 30° C. NADP⁺ reduction in the presence of L-homoserine is followed spectrophometrically for 30 minutes at 340 nm.

EXAMPLE II Construction of Strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-MetH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNAPol-TT07::Km (pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ)

Methionine producing strains with reduced N-acetyl methionine accumulation have been described in patent applications WO 2007077041 and WO 2009043803 which are incorporated as reference into this application.

1. Construction of the Strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA (pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ)

The plasmid pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ is derived from plasmids pBeloBAC11 (New England BioLabs; Kim et al, 1996, Genomics, 34, 231-218) and pCL1920-TTadc-C1857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 (described above).

First, thrA*1-SMC-cysE region (SMC for Multiple Clonage Site) was PCR amplified from the pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 plasmid by using the following oligonucleotides, SnaBI-thrA-SMC-cysE-F (SEQ ID No 13) and cysE-R (SEQ ID No 14) (reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website).

SnaBI-thrA-SMC-cysE-F (SEQ ID No13) tgctacgtaccctctcatggaagttaggagtctga

TAGTCCG

ATA CGAAAGAAGTCCGCGAACTGG

with

-   -   a region (lower case) homologous to the 3′ extremity of the thrA         gene (from 2765 to 2799) and harbouring the SnaBI restriction         site (italic lower case)     -   a region (bold case) for SMC region harbouring the NheI and XhoI         restriction sites (italic bold case)     -   a region (upper case) homologous to the 5′ upstream region of         cysE gene (from 3780796 to 3780819)

cysE-R (SEQ ID No 14) CAACCAGTGACCGATGCG homologous to the cysE gene from 3780226 to 3780243

The PCR amplified fragment thrA*1-SMC-cysE was restricted by SnaBI and StuI and the digested fragment was cloned into the SnaBI/StuI sites of the plasmid pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11. The resulting plasmid was verified by sequencing and named pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11.

Subsequently, the PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ region was PCR amplified from pCL1920-TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE-SMC-PgapA-metA*11 plasmid by using the following oligonucleotides, SfoI-PT7-RBST7-NdeI-thrA-F (SEQ ID No 15) and metA-T7TΦ-SfoI-R (SEQ ID No 16) (reference sequence on the website www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=genome&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=10461&window=7553&begin=21516). This PCR product was cloned into the pSCB vector (Stratagene). The resulting vector was verified by sequencing and named pSCB-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ. To transfer the PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ region into the single-copy vector pBeloBAC11, the pSCB-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ was restricted by SfoI and the PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ fragment was cloned into the blunted NotI site of the vector pBeloBAC11, resulting in the plasmid pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ.

SfoI-PT7-RBST7-NdeI-thrA-F (SEQ ID No 15) GGCGCCtcgattcgaacttctgatagacttcgaaattaatacgactcac tatagggagaccacaacggtttccctctagaaataattttgtttaactt taagaaggagatatacatATG A GAGTGTTGAAGTTCGGCGG with

-   -   a region (italic upper case) harbouring the SfoI restriction         site     -   a region (lower case) homologous to the promoter region of the         T7p45 (10A) gene of the T7 bacteriophage (from 22858 to 22967)     -   a region (upper bold case) homologous to the thrA gene (from 337         to 359, except for 1 base (upper bold underlined case))

metA-T7TΦ-SfoI-R (SEQ ID No 16) GGCGCCctttcagcaaaaaacccctcaagacccgtttagaggccccaag gggttatgctagttattgacagcggtggcagcagccaactcagcttcct ttcgggctttgttagTTAATCCAGCGTTGGATTCATGTGC with

-   -   a region (italic upper case) harbouring the SfoI restriction         site     -   a region (lower case) homologous to the transcriptional         terminator region of the T7p45 (10A) gene of the T7         bacteriophage (from 24111 to 24218)     -   a region (upper bold case) homologous to metA gene (from 4213208         to 4213232)

Finally, the plasmid pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ was introduced by electroporation into the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA resulting in the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA (pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ).

2. Construction of the Strain MG1655 metA*11 DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNAPol-TT07::Km (pKD46)

To delete the malS region and replace it by TTadc-C1857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNAPol-TT07 region, the homologous recombination strategy described by Datsenko & Wanner (2000) was used. This strategy allows the insertion of a kanamycine resistance cassette and additional DNA, while deleting most of the region concerned. For this purpose, the following plasmid was constructed, pUC18-DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNAPol-TT07::Km.

The pUC18-DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNAPol-TT07::Km plasmid is derived from plasmids pUC18 (Norrander et al., 1983, Gene 26, 101-106) and pUC18-DmalS::SMC::Km (described above), pAR1219 (Sigma), and pCR4BluntTOPO-TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-SMC-TT07 (synthesized by Geneart and described below).

2.1. Construction of the Plasmid pUC18-DmalS::SMC::Km

For the construction of the plasmid pUC18-DmalS::SMC::Km, the upstream region of malS (upmalS), the multiple cloning site (SMC) and the kanamycine cassette (Km) were obtained by overlapping PCR, and the downstream region of malS (downmalS) was amplified and cloned subsequently.

First, the upmalS region was PCR amplified from the MG1655 E. coli genomic DNA using the following oligonucleotides, HindIII-upmalS-F-1 (SEQ ID No 17) and upmalS-Km-R-2 (SEQ ID No 18) (reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website). Secondly, the Km-SMC region was PCR amplified from pKD4 plasmid (Datsenko & Wanner, 2000) using the oligonucleotides upmalS-Km-F-3 (SEQ ID No 19) and Km-SMC-R-4 (SEQ ID No 20). Both upmalS-Km-R-2 (SEQ ID No 18) and upmalS-Km-F-3 (SEQ ID No 19) oligonucleotides were designed to possess 45 bp long overlapping sequence. Owing this overlapping sequence, in a third step, the upmalS-Km-SMC region was PCR amplified by mixing the upmalS and Km-SMC PCR products and by using the HindIII-upmalS-F-1 (SEQ ID No 17) and Km-SMC-R-4 (SEQ ID No 20) oligonucleotides. Then this PCR product was cloned in the pSCB (Stratagene) and the resulting plasmid was verified by sequencing and named pSCB-upmalS-Km-SMC.

HindIII-upmalS-F-1 (SEQ ID No 17) atcgtaAAGCTTTTCACTTTACCTGGCGCATTGG

with

-   -   a region (lower case) with extra-bases     -   a region (upper italic case) harbouring the HindIII restriction         site     -   a region (upper case) homologous to the upstream region of the         malS gene (from 3734620 to 3734641)

upmalS-Km-R-2 (SEQ ID No 18) ctaaggaggatattcatatgACCGGTTCGGCGGCGTTCTGGATGG

with

-   -   a region (lower case) for the amplification of the kanamycin         resistance cassette (reference sequence in Datsenko & Wanner,         2000, PNAS, 97, 6640-6645)     -   a region (upper case) homologous to the upstream region of malS         gene (from 3735836 to 3735860)

upmalS-Km-F-3 (SEQ ID No 19) CCATCCAGAACGCCGCCGAACCGGTcatatgaatatcctccttag

with

-   -   a region (upper case) homologous to the upstream region of the         malS gene (from 3735836 to 3735860)     -   a region (lower case) for the amplification of the kanamycin         resistance cassette (reference sequence in Datsenko & Wanner,         2000, PNAS, 97, 6640-6645)

Km-SMC-R-4 (SEQ ID No 20) GATCGATGGATCCATCTCGAGATCCGCGGATGTATACATGGGCCCtgt aggctggagctgcttcg

with

-   -   a region (upper case) with extra-bases     -   a region (italic upper case) for the SMC habouring BamHI, XhoI,         SacII, BstZ17I, ApaI restriction sites     -   a region (lower case) for the amplification of the kanamycin         resistance cassette (reference sequence in Datsenko & Wanner,         2000, PNAS, 97, 6640-6645).

Then, the pSCB-upma/S-Km-SMC plasmid was restricted by BamHI and HindIII and the upma/S-Km-SMC fragment was cloned into the BamHI/HindIII sites of the vector pUC18, resulting in the vector pUC18-upma/S-Km-SMC.

Subsequently, the downmalS region was PCR amplified from the MG1655 E. coli genomic DNA using the following oligonucleotides, downmalS-F-1 (SEQ ID No 21) and downmalS-R-2 (SEQ ID NO 22) (reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website). Then this PCR product was cloned into the pSCB (Stratagene) and the resulting plasmid was verified by sequencing and named pSCB-downmalS.

downmalS-F-1 (SEQ ID No 21) ATGCTGAATTCaccggtgaagcctggggccacggcg

with

-   -   a region (upper case) with extra-bases     -   a region (italic upper case) harbouring the EcoRI restriction         site     -   a region (lower case) homologous to the downstream region of the         malS gene (from 3737020 to 3737044)

downmalS-R-2 (SEQ ID No 22) TACGATGAATTCgggacgccataagcgttatcaatcacc

with

-   -   a region (upper case) with extra-bases     -   a region (italic upper case) harbouring the EcoRI restriction         site     -   a region (lower case) homologous to the downstream region of the         malS gene (from 3738372 to 3738398).

Then, the pSCB-downmalS plasmid was restricted by EcoRI and the downmalS fragment was cloned into the EcoRI site of the vector pUC18, resulting in the vector pUC18-DmalS::SMC::Km.

2.2. Construction of the Plasmid pUC18-DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNAPol-1707::Km

For the construction of the plasmid pUC18-DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNAPol-TT07::Km, the TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-SMC-TT07 region (described below) present into the pCR4BluntTOPO-TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-SMC-TT07 (synthesized by Geneart) was restricted by ApaI and BamHI and the fragment was subcloned into the ApaI and BamHI restriction sites of the plasmid pUC18-DmalS::SMC::Km, giving the plasmid pUC18-DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-SMC-TT07::Km. Then the PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07 region was amplified from the vector pAR1219 (Sigma) using the following oligonucleotides, AvrII-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-F (SEQ ID No 24) and T7RNApol-BstZ17I-TT02-BamHI-XhoI-R(SEQ ID No 25) (reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website and www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=genome&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=10461&window=7553&begin=21516). Then the PCR product was restricted by AvrII and BamHI and the fragment was cloned into the partially AvrII and BamHI restricted pUC18-DmalS::adc-CI857*-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-SMC-TT07::Km plasmid, giving the pUC18-DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km plasmid which was verified by DNA sequencing.

TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR*(-35)-RBS01-SMC-TT07 region present into the pCR4BluntTOPO-TTadc-CI857*- PlambdaR*(-35)-RBS01-SMC-TT07 (SEQ ID No 23): gggccc TAAAAATAAGAGTTACCTTAAATGGTAACTCTTATTTTTTTTA t taattaacctaggTCAGCCAAACGTCTCTTCAGGCCACTGACTAGCGATA ACTTTCCCCACAACGGAACAACTCTCATTGCATGGGATCATTGGGTACTG TGGGTTTAGTGGTTGTAAAAACACCTGACCGCTATCCCTGATCAGTTTCT TGAAGGTAAACTCATCACCCCCAAGTCTGGCTATGCAGAAATCACCTGGC TCAACAGCCTGCTCAGGGTCAACGAGAATTAACATTCCGTCAGGAAAGCT TGGCTTGGAGCCTGTTGGTGCGGTCATGGAATTACCTTCAACCTCAAGCC AGAATGCAGAATCACTGGCTTTTTTGGTTGTGCTTACCCATCTCTCCGCA TCACCTTTGGTAAAGGTTCTAAGCTTAGGTGAGAACATCCCTGCCTGAAC ATGAGAAAAAACAGGGTACTCATACTCACTTCTAAGTGACGGCTGCATGC TAACCGCTTCATACATCTCGTAGATTTCTCTGGCGATTGAAGGGCTAAAT TCTTCAACGCTAACTTTGAGAATTTTTGTAAGCAATGCGGCGTTGTAAGC ATTTAATGCATTGATGCCATTAAATAAAGCACCAACGCCTGACTGCCCCA TCCCCATCTTGTCTGCGACAGATTCCTGGGATAAGCCAAGTTCATTTTTC TTTTTTTCATAAATTGCCTTAAGGCGACGTGCGTCCTCAAGCTGCTCTTG TGTTAATGGTTTCTTTTTTGTGCTCATcctagg AATCTATCACCGCAAGG GATAAATATCTAACACCGTGCGTGTTGAC

ATTTTACCTCTGGCGGTGAT AATGGTTGCATGTAC TAAGGAGGTTATAA GTATACtcacactggctcacc ttcgggtgggcctttctgc ggatcc

with

-   -   regions (italic lower case) harbouring the restriction sites         ApaI, Pad, AvrII and BamHI     -   a region (underlined upper case) homologous to the TTadc         transcriptional terminator sequence (transcription terminator of         the adc gene from Clostridium acetobutylicum, homologous from         179847 to 179807 of the pSLO1 megaplasmid) (TTadc)     -   a region (upper case) homologous to the cI857 gene harbouring         codon usage changes in aim to create or to delete some         restriction sites (italic upper case) (C1857*)     -   a region (bold upper case) homologous to the lambda         bacteriophage P_(R) promoter, except 1 base (italic bold upper         case) to obtain the *(−35) version of the P_(R), variant form in         which the −35 box is modified to obtain the −35 consensus (from         TTGACT to TTGACA) (PlambdaR*(−35))     -   a region (underlined bold upper case) for ribosome biding site         (RBS01)     -   a region (underlined italic upper case) harbouring BstZ17I         restriction site (SMC)     -   a region (underlined lower case) for T7Te transcriptional         terminator sequence (Harrington et al., 2001, PNAS, 98(9),         5019-24) (TT07)

AvrII-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-F (SEQ ID No 24) ctcatCCTAGG AATCTATCACCGCAAGGGATAAATATCTAACACCGTGC GTGTTGA

ATTTTACCTCTGGCGGTGATAATGGTTGCATGTAC TAAGG AGGTTATAA atgaacacgattaacatcgctaagaacg

with

-   -   a region (lower case) with extra bases     -   a region (italic upper case) harbouring the AvrII restriction         site     -   a region (bold upper case) homologous to the lambda         bacteriophage P_(R) promoter, except 2 bases (italic bold upper         case) to obtain the PlambdaR03 mutant version of the P_(R)         promoter     -   a ribosome binding site (underlined upper case)     -   a region (bold lower case) homologous to the 5′ extremity of the         bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase gene (T7p07 gene) (from 3171 to         3198)

T7RNApol-BstZ17I-TT07-BamHI-XhoI-R (SEQ ID No 25) cggccagCTCGAGCGCGGATCC GCAGAAAGGCCCACCCGAAGGTGAGCC AGTGTGA GTATAC ttacgcgaacgcgaagtccgac

with

-   -   a region (lower case) with extra-bases     -   a region (italic upper case) harbouring the XhoI and BamHI         restriction sites     -   a region (bold upper case) for T7Te transcriptional terminator         sequence (Harrington et al., 2001, PNAS, 98(9), 5019-24)     -   a region (underlined italic upper case) harbouring the BstZ17I         restriction site     -   a region (bold lower case) homologous to the 3′ extremity of the         bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase gene (T7p07 gene) (from 5801 to         5822).

2.3. Replacement of the malS Region by TTadc-C1857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNAPol-TT07 Region

Finally, in order to delete the malS region and replace it by TTadc-C1857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNAPol-TT07 region, the pUC18-DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km plasmid was restricted by Scat and EcoRV and the DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km fragment was introduced by electroportation into the strain MG1655 metA*11 (pKD46), in which the expressed Red recombinase enzyme permits the homologous recombination. The kanamycin resistant transformants were then selected, and the insertion of the DmalS::TTadc-C1857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km fragment was verified by a PCR analysis with the oligonucleotides malS-F (SEQ ID No 26), Km-R (SEQ ID No 27), T7RNApol-F (SEQ ID No 28) and malS-R (SEQ ID No 29) (reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website and on the of National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website). The strain is designated MG1655 metA*11DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km.

malS-F (SEQ ID No 26): GCACCAACAACGCTTCAGGC (homologous to the malS region from 3734280 to 3734299) Km-R (SEQ ID No 27): TGTAGGCTGGAGCTGCTTCG (homologous to the kanamycin resistance cassette of the pKD4 vector) T7RNApol-F (SEQ ID No 28): GCTGCTAAGCTGCTGGCTGC (homologous to the bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase gene (T7p07 gene) from 5274 to 5293) malS-R (SEQ ID No 29): GGAAAGACTCATGCACAGC (homologous to the malS region from 3738453 to 3738471.

3. Construction of the Strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNAPol-TT07::Km (pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ)

To delete the malS region and replace it by the TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNAPol-TT07 region in the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA (pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ), the DmalS::TTadc-C1857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km construction was transferred by P1 phage transduction (see below) from the MG1655 metA*11 DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km strain into the MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA (pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ) strain. Kanamycin and chloramphenicol resistant transformants were selected and the insertion of the DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km region was verified by a PCR analysis with the oligonucleotides malS-F (SEQ ID No 26), Km-R (SEQ ID No 27), T7RNApol-F (SEQ ID No 28) and malS-R (SEQ ID No 29) previously described. The strain retained is designated MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA DmalS::TTadc-C1857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km (pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ).

Preparation of Phage Lysate P1:

-   -   Inoculation with 100 μL of an overnight culture of the strain         MG1655 metA*11         DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km of 10 mL         of LB supplemented with kanamycine (50 μg/mL), glucose (0.2%)         and CaCl₂ (5 mM)     -   Incubation for 1 h at 30° C. with shacking     -   Addition of 100 μL of phage lysate P1 prepared on the strain         MG1655 (about 1.10⁹ phage/mL)     -   Shacking at 30° C. for 3 hours until all cells were lysed     -   Addition of 200 μL of chlorophorm and vortexing     -   Centrifugation for 10 min at 4500 g to eliminate cell debris     -   Transfer of the supernatant to sterile tube and addition of 200         μL of chlorophorm     -   Storage of lysate at 4° C.

Transduction:

-   -   Centrifugation for 10 min at 1500 g for 5 mL of an overnight         culture of the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM         PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF         DpykA DpurU DyncA         (pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ) in LB         medium     -   Suspension of the cell pellet in 2.5 mL of 10 mM of MgSO₄, 5 mM         CaCl₂     -   Control tubes: 100 μL of cells         -   100 μL, phages P1 of strain MG1655 metA*11             DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km     -   Test tubes: 100 μL, of cells+100 μL, phages P1 of strain MG1655         metA*11 DmalS::TTadc-C/857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km     -   Incubation for 30 min at 30° C. without shacking     -   Addition of 100 μL of 1 M sodium citrate in each tube and         vortexing     -   Addition of 1 mL of LB     -   Incubation for 1 hour at 30° C. with shacking     -   Spreading on dishes LB supplemented with kanamycine (50 μg/mL)         after centrifuging of tubes for 3 min at 7000 rpm     -   Incubation at 30° C. overnight

4. Evaluation of Temperature Dependent Methionine Production

Strain 2: MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF DmetJ DpykF DpykA DpurU DyncA DmalS::TTadc-CI857*-PlambdaR03-RBS01-T7RNApol-TT07::Km (pBeloBAC11-PT7-RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ)

Preculture and culture conditions are described above in example 1. Kanamycin was used instead of spectinomycine. The temperature of culture was either 30° C. or 34° C.

TABLE 4 Methionine yield (Y_(met)) in % g methionine/g de glucose produced in batch culture by the strain 2 at 30 and 34° C. For the precise definition of methionine/glucose yield see above. Condition Y_(met) SD N Strain 2 - Preculture 30° C. + Culture 30° C. 6.7 0.1 3 Strain 2 - Preculture 30° C. + Culture 34° C. 9.9 0.4 3 SD denotes the standard deviation for the yields which was calculated on the basis of three repetitions.

Induction of thrA and cysE increases the amount of methionine produced. This is confirmed by an analysis of the two activities HDH and SAT. Both activities increase upon the shift to 34° C.

TABLE 5 Homoserine dehydrogenase (HDH, thrA*1) and serine acetyltransferase (SAT, cysE) activities were determined in the above described cultures and were given in mUI/mg of proteins. condition HDH SAT N Strain 2 - Preculture 30° C. + 58.9 ± 2.8  77.0 ± 8.3 3 Culture 30° C. Strain 2 - Preculture 30° C. + 91.7 ± 4.4 131.0 ± 9.7 3 Culture 34° C. Standard deviations were calculated on the basis of several independent cultures (N = number of repetitions).

EXAMPLE III Constructions of the Thermo-Inducible Strains Tested in Examples IV and V Below

1. Protocols

Several protocols have been used to construct methionine producing strains and are described in the following examples.

Protocol 1:

Chromosomal modifications by homologous recombination and selection of recombinants (Datsenko, K. A. & Wanner, B. L., 2000)

Allelic replacement or gene disruption in specified chromosomal loci was carried out by homologous recombination as described by Datsenko. & Wanner (2000). The chloramphenicol (Cm) resistance cat, the kanamycin (Km) resistance kan, the gentamycin (Gt) resistance gm genes or tetracycline (Tc) resistance tet, flanked by Flp recognition sites, were amplified by PCR by using pKD3 or pKD4, p34S-Gm (Dennis et Zyltra, AEM july 1998, p 2710-2715) or pLOI2065 (Underwood et al., Appl Environ Microbiol. 2002 December; 68(12): 6263-6272) plasmids as template respectively. The resulting PCR products were used to transform the recipient E. coli strain harbouring plasmid pKD46 that expresses the λ□ Red (γ, β, □□exo) recombinase. Antibiotic-resistant transformants were then selected and the chromosomal structure of the mutated loci was verified by PCR analysis with the appropriate primers listed in Table 2.

The cat, kan, gm and tc-resistance genes were removed by using plasmid pCP20 as described by Datsenko. & Wanner (2000), except that clones harboring the pCP20 plasmid were cultivated at 37° C. on LB and then tested for loss of antibiotic resistance at 30° C. Antibiotic sensitive clones were then verified by PCR using primers listed in Table 2.

Protocol 2:

Transduction of Phage P1

Chromosomal modifications were transferred to a given E. coli recipient strain by P1 transduction. The protocol is composed of 2 steps: (i) preparation of the phage lysate on a donor strain containing the resistance associated chromosomal modification and (ii) infection of the recipient strain by this phage lysate.

Preparation of the Phage Lysate

-   -   Inoculate 100 μl of an overnight culture of the strain MG1655         with the chromosomal modification of interest in 10 ml of LB+Cm         30 μg/ml or Km 50 μg/ml or Gt 10 μg/mL or Tet 10 μg/mL+glucose         0.2%+CaCl₂ 5 mM.     -   Incubate 30 min at 37° C. with shaking.     -   Add 100 μl of P1 phage lysate prepared on the donor strain         MG1655 (approx. 1×10⁹ phage/ml).     -   Shake at 37° C. for 3 hours until the complete lysis of cells.     -   Add 200 μl of chloroform, and vortex     -   Centrifuge 10 min at 4500 g to eliminate cell debris.     -   Transfer of supernatant to a sterile tube.     -   Store the lysate at 4° C.

Transduction

-   -   Centrifuge 10 min at 1500 g 5 ml of an overnight culture of         the E. coli recipient strain cultivated in LB medium.     -   Suspend the cell pellet in 2.5 ml of MgSO₄ 10 mM, CaCl₂ 5 mM.     -   Infect 100 μl cells with 100 μl P1 phage of strain MG1655 with         the modification on the chromosome (test tube) and as a control         tubes 100 μl cells without P1 phage and 100 μl P1 phage without         cells.     -   Incubate 30 min at 30° C. without shaking.     -   Add 100 μl sodium citrate 1 M in each tube, and vortex.     -   Add 1 ml of LB.     -   Incubate 1 hour at 37° C. with shaking     -   Centrifuge 3 min at 7000 rpm.     -   Plate on LB+Cm 30 μg/ml or Km 50 μg/ml or Gt 10 μg/mL or Tet 10         μg/mL     -   Incubate at 37° C. overnight.

The antibiotic-resistant transductants were then selected and the chromosomal structure of the mutated locus was verified by PCR analysis with the appropriate primers listed in Table 2.

TABLE 6 List of genotypes and corresponding numbers of intermediate strains and producer strains that appear in the following examples. Strain Number Genotype 3 MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF Ptrc07-serB ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpykA ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1*-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔuxaCA ::TT07-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 4 MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF Ptrc07-serB ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpykA ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1*-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔuxaCA ::TT07-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm 5 MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF Ptrc07-serB ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpykA ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysEApgaABCD::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1*-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔuxaCA ::TT07-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm ΔyjbI::TT02- TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-melA*11::Tc 6 MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF Ptrc07-serB ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpykA ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1*-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔuxaCA ::TT07-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm ΔyjbI::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc- PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt 7 MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857- PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE 8 MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857- PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE pBeloBAC11-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE- PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ

1. Construction of Strain 3: MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst-metF Ptrc07-serB ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpykA ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔuxaCA::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11

Methionine producing strain 3 (Table 6) has been described in patent applications EP10306164.4 and U.S. 61/406,249. These applications are incorporated as reference into this application.

2. Construction of Strain 4: MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF Ptrc07-serB ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpykA ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔuxaCA::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm

The ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm chromosomal modification, described in patent applications EP10306164.4 and U.S. Ser. No. 61/406,249 was transduced into the strain 3 (Table 6) with a P1 phage lysate from strain MG1655 metA*11 pKD46 ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm described in patent applications EP10306164.4 and US61/406249, according to Protocol 2.

Chloramphenicol resistant transductants were selected and the presence of the ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm chromosomal modification was verified by PCR with Ome1707-DwcaM_verif_F (SEQ ID No 30) and Ome1708-DwcaM_verif_R (SEQ ID No 31) (Table 7). The resulting strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF Ptrc07-serB ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpykA ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔuxaCA::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm was called strain 4 (Table 1).

3. Construction of strain 5: MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF Ptrc07-serB ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpykA ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔuxaCA::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm ΔyjbI:TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc 3.1. Construction of Plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc

Plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc is derived from plasmids pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc and pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔyjbI::TT02-SMC described above, pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2 described below and pLOI2065 (Underwood et al., Appl Environ Microbiol. 2002 December; 68(12): 6263-6272).

3.1.1. Construction of pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11:Tc

Plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc plasmid is derived from pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2 describe above, pLO12065 (Underwood et al., Appl Environ Microbiol. 2002 December; 68(12): 6263-6272) and pUC18-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm described in EP10306164.4 and US61/406249 patent applications.

Construction of Plasmid pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2

pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2 is derived from plasmids pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*1-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2 and pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*3-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2 which have been synthesized by GeneArt (www.geneart.com/). The TTadc-CI*1-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2 and TTadc-CI*3-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2 fragments were cloned into the SfiI sites of plasmid pMA-RQ from GeneArt and contain the following sequences respectively:

pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*1-PlambdaR*(-35)-RBS01*2 (SEQ ID No 32) ggccgtcaaggccgcatggcgcgcc ttataacctcctta GTACATGCAAC CATTATCACCGCCAGAGGTAAAATTGTCAACACGCACGGTGTTAGATATT TATCCCTTGCGGTGATAGATTTAACGTATGAGCACAAAAAAGAAACCATT AACACAAGAGCAGCTTGAGGACGCACGTCGCCTTAAGGCAATTCATGAAA AAAAGAAAAATGAACTTGGCTTATCCCAGGAATCTGTCGCAGACAAGATG GGGATGGGGCAGTCAGGCGTTGGTGCTTTATTTAATGGCATCAATGCATT AAATGCTTACAACGCCGCATTGCTTGCGAAAATTCTCAAAGTTAGCGTTG AAGAATTTAGCCCTTCAATCGCCAGAGAAATCTACGAGATGTATGAAGCG GTTAGCATGCAGCCGTCACTTAGAAGTGAGTATGAGTACCCTGTTTTTTC TCATGTTCAGGCAGGGATGTTCTCACCTGAACTTAGAACCTTTACCAAAG GTGATGCGGAGAGATGGGTAAGCACAACCAAAAAAGCCAGTGATTCTGCA TTCTGGCTTGAGGTTGAAGGTAATTCCATGACCGCACCAACAGGCTCCAA GCCAAGCTTTCCTGACGGAATGTTAATTCTCGTTGACCCTGAGCAGGCTG TTGAGCCAGGTGATTTCTGCATAGCCAGACTTGGGGGTGATGAGTTTACC TTCAAGAAACTGATCAGGGATAGCGGTCAGGTGTTTTTACAACCACTAAA CCCACAGTACCCAATGATCCCATGCAATGAGAGTTGTTCCGTTGTGGGGA AAGTTATCGCTAGTCAGTGGCCTGAAGAGACGTTTGGCTGATAAAAAAAA TAAGAGTTACCATTTAAGGTAACTCTTATTTTTA GGGCCCTTAATTAACT GGGCCTCATGGGCC

-   -   underline lower cases corresponding to SfiI and AscI restriction         sites     -   bold lower cases corresponding to RBS01*2 sequences         (TAAGGAGGTTATAA) in reverse orientation and PsiI restriction         site,     -   italic upper cases homologous to lambda bacteriophage P_(R)         promoter (PlambdaR*(−35), (Mermet-Bouvier & Chauvat, 1994,         Current Microbiology, vol. 28, pp 145-148)).     -   upper cases corresponding to the sequence of the repressor         protein cI of the lambda bacteriophage where the nucleotide T67         were changed by C67 generating one amino-acid change Tyr23His         (Mermet-Bouvier & Chauvat, 1994, Current Microbiology, vol. 28,         pp 145-148). This sequence was called cI*1.     -   bold upper cases homologous to TTadc transcriptional terminator         sequence in revser orientation (transcription terminator of the         adc gene from Clostridium acetobutylicum, homologous from 179847         to 179807 of the pSLO1 megaplasmid).     -   underlined upper cases corresponding to ApaI, Pad and SfiI

pMA-RQ-Tradc-CI*3-PlambdaR*(-35)-RBS01*2 (SEQ ID No 33) ggccgtcaaggccgcatggcgcgcc ttataacctcctta GTACATGCAAC CATTATCACCGCCAGAGGTAAAATTGTCAACACGCACGGTGTTAGATATT TATCCCTTGCGGTGATAGATTTAACGTATGAGCACAAAAAAGAAACCATT AACACAAGAGCAGCTTGAGGACGCACGTCGCCTTAAGGCAATTTATGAAA AAAAGAAAAATGAACTTGGCTTATCCCAGGAATCTGTCGCAGACAAGATG GGGATGGGGCAGTCAGGCGTTGGTGCTTTATTTAATGGCATCAATGCATT AAATGCTTACAACGCCGCATTGGCGACAAAAATTCTCAAAGTTAGCGTTG AAGAATTTAGCCCTTCAATCGCCAGAGAAATCTACGAGATGTATGAAGCG GTTAGCATGCAGCCGTCACTTAGAAGTGAGTATGAGTACCCTGTTTTTTC TCATGTTCAGGCAGGGATGTTCTCACCTAAGCTTAGAACCTTTACCAAAG GTGATGCGGAGAGATGGGTAAGCACAACCAAAAAAGCCAGTGATTCTGCA TTCTGGCTTGAGGTTGAAGGTAATTCCATGACCGCACCAACAGGCTCCAA GCCAAGCTTTCCTGACGGAATGTTAATTCTCGTTGACCCTGAGCAGGCTG TTGAGCCAGGTGATTTCTGCATAGCCAGACTTGGGGGTGATGAGTTTACC TTCAAGAAACTGATCAGGGATAGCGGTCAGGTGTTTTTACAACCACTAAA CCCACAGTACCCAATGATCCCATGCAATGAGAGTTGTTCCGTTGTGGGGA AAGTTATCGCTAGTCAGTGGCCTGAAGAGACGTTTGGCTGATAAAAAAAA TAAGAGTTACCATTTAAGGTAACTCTTATTTTTA GGGCCCTTAATTAACT GGGCCTCATGGGCC

-   -   underline lower cases corresponding to SfiI and AscI restriction         sites     -   bold lower cases corresponding to RBS01*2 sequences         (TAAGGAGGTTATAA) in reverse orientation and PsiI restriction         site,     -   italic upper cases homologous to lambda bacteriophage P_(R)         promoter (PlambdaR*(−35), (Mermet-Bouvier & Chauvat, 1994,         Current Microbiology, vol. 28, pp 145-148)).     -   upper cases corresponding to the sequence of the repressor         protein cI of the lambda bacteriophage where nucleotides         196-CTTGCG-201 were changed by 196-GCGACA-201 generating two         amino-acid changes Leu66Ala and Ala67Thr (Mermet-Bouvier &         Chauvat, 1994, Current Microbiology, vol. 28, pp 145-148). This         sequence was called cI*3.     -   bold upper cases homologous to TTadc transcriptional terminator         sequence in reverse orientation (transcription terminator of the         adc gene from Clostridium acetobutylicum, homologous from 179847         to 179807 of the pSLO1 megaplasmid).     -   underlined upper cases corresponding to ApaI, Pad and SfiI

To construct pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2, the XmnI/NsiI fragment NsiI-CI*3-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2-XmnI purified from pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*3-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2 described above was cloned between the XmnI and NsiI sites of plasmid pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*I-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS0/*2 described above creating the wild type allele of the cI protein repressor. The resulting plasmid was verified by DNA sequencing and called pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2.

Construction of plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm

pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm plasmid is derived from pUC18-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm described in EP10306164.4 and U.S. 61/406,249 patent applications and pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2 describe above.

To construct pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm, the ApaI/PsiI fragment TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35), treated by Large (Klenow) Fragment of E. coli DNA Polymerase I, and purified from pMA-RQ-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2 was cloned between the SfoI sites of plasmid pUC18-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm. The resulting plasmid was verified by restriction and called pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm.

Finally, to construct pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc, the FRT-Tc-FRT resistance cassette was amplified by PCR with primers Ome 1836-HindIII-K7-FRT-Tc-F (SEQ ID No 34) and Ome 1837-SmaI-BstZ17I-K7-FRT-Tc-R (SEQ ID No 35) using pLO12065 as template.

Ome1836-HindIII-K7-FRT-Tc-F (SEQ ID No 34) GCCCAAGCTT TGTAGGCTGGAGCTGCTTCGAAGTTCCTATACTTTCTAGA GAATAGGAACTTCGGAATAGGAACCGGATCAATTCATCGCGCGTC

with

-   -   underlined upper cases corresponding to HindIII restriction         sites and extrabases,     -   bold upper case sequence corresponding to the FRT sequence of         plasmid pKD4 (Datsenko, K. A. & Wanner, B. L., 2000, PNAS, 97:         6640-6645),     -   upper case sequence homologous to sequence of the tetracycline         resistance gene located on pLOI2065 (Underwood et al., Appl         Environ Microbiol. 2002 December; 68(12): 6263-6272).

Ome1837-SmaI-BstZ17I-K7-FRT-Tc-R (SEQ ID No 35) TCCCCCGGGGTATAC CATATGAATATCCTCCTTAGTTCCTATTCCGAAGT TCCTATTCTCTAGAAAGTATAGGAACTTCGAATTGTCGACAAGCTAGCTT GC

with

-   -   underlined upper cases corresponding to SmaI and BstZ17I         restriction sites and extrabases,     -   bold upper case sequence corresponding to the FRT sequence of         plasmid pKD4 (Datsenko, K. A. & Wanner, B. L., 2000, PNAS, 97:         6640-6645),     -   upper case sequence homologous to sequence of the tetracycline         resistance gene located on pLOI2065 (Underwood et al., Appl         Environ Microbiol. 2002 December; 68(12): 6263-6272).

The FRT-Tc-FRT PCR product was digested by BstZ17I and HindIII and treated by Large (Klenow) Fragment of E. coli DNA Polymerase I. The resulting fragment was then cloned between the BstZ17I and Pad which has been treated by Large (Klenow) Fragment of E. coli DNA Polymerase I. The selected plasmid has the tc resistance cassette in the same orientation than the amp resistance cassette of pUC18 plasmid and was verified by DNA sequencing and called pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::1T02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01*2-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc.

3.1.2. Construction of plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔyjbI:TT02-SMC

To construct the ΔyjbI::TT02-MCS fragment, overlapping PCR between the upstream region of yjbI (upyjbI), the TT02 transcriptional terminator, the multiple cloning site (MCS) and the downstream region of yjbI (downyjbI) was done.

First, the fragment upyjbI-TT02-MCS was amplified from E. coli MG1655 genomic DNA using primers Ome 1852-SfoI-KpnI-DyjbI amount-F (SEQ ID No 36) and Ome 1853-SMC-TT02-DyjbI amount-R (SEQ ID No 37) by PCR. Then, the TT02-MCS-downyjbI fragment was amplified from E. coli MG1655 genomic DNA using primers Ome 1854-TT02-SMC-DyjbI aval-F (SEQ ID No 38) and Ome 1855-SfoI-KpnI-DyjbI aval-R (SEQ ID No 39) by PCR. Primers Ome 1853-SMC-TT02-DyjbI amount-R (SEQ ID No 37) and Ome 1854-TT02-SMC-DyjbI aval-F (SEQ ID No 38) have been designed to overlap through a 36 nucleotides-long region. Finally, the upyjbI-TT02-MCS-downyjbI fragment was amplified by mixing the upyjbI-TT02-MCS and the TT02-MCS-downyjbI amplicons and using primers Ome 1852-SfoI-KpnI-DyjbI amount-F (SEQ ID No 36) and Ome 1855-SfoI-KpnI-DyjbI aval-R (SEQ ID No 39). The resulting fusion PCR product was digested by SfoI and cloned between the EcoRI sites of plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm, described above, which has been treated by Large (Klenow) Fragment of E. coli DNA Polymerase I. The resulting plasmid was verified by DNA sequencing and called pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔyjbI::TT02-MCS.

Ome 1852-SfoI-KpnI-DyjbI amont-F (SEQ ID No 36) CGTAGGCGCCGGTACCGAGTGCAGATCGGCTGGAAGGCG

with

-   -   underlined upper cases corresponding to SfoI and KpnI         restriction sites and extrabases,     -   upper case sequence homologous to sequence upstream of the yjbI         gene (4247987-4248009, reference sequence available on the         ECOGENE website) Ome 1853-SMC-TT02-DyjbI amount-R (SEQ ID No 37)

GCTTGTATACAACAGATAAAACGAAAGGCCCAGTCTTTCGACTGAGCCTT TCGTTTTATTTGATGCATTTCTGTAGAATTTTACACTTATAGTATCATTA CTGATTGAGACTTCA

with

-   -   underlined upper case sequence for the BstZ17I restriction site         and the beginning of a multiple cloning site,     -   upper case sequence corresponding to the transcriptional         terminator T₁ of E. coli rrnB (Orosz A, Boros I and         Venetianer P. Eur. J. Biochem. 1991 Nov. 1; 201(3):653-9)     -   bold upper case sequence homologous to sequence downstream of         the yjbI gene (4248931-4248980, reference sequence available on         the ECOGENE website).

Ome 1854-TT02-SMC-DyjbI aval-F (SEQ ID No 38) AGACTGGGCCTTTCGTTTTATCTGTTGTATACAAGCTTTACCTAGGGCCC TTAATTAA ATAATGAATAAGGGTGTTTAAGTAAAGGAAAACATCACCGTT CCTGGCAT

with

-   -   upper case sequence corresponding to the transcriptional         terminator T1 of E. coli rrnB (Orosz A, Boros I and         Venetianer P. Eur. J. Biochem. 1991 Nov. 1; 201(3):653-9)     -   bold upper case sequence containing a multiple cloning site:         BstZ17I, HindIII, AvrII, ApaI, PacI,     -   underlined upper case sequence homologous to sequence downstream         of the yjbI gene (4250286-4250335, reference sequence available         on the ECOGENE website).

Ome 1855-SfoI-KpnI-DyjbI aval-R (SEQ ID No 39) CGTAGGCGCCGGTACCCAGCATAATCATTCACCACACATCCG

with

-   -   underlined upper cases corresponding to SfoI and KpnI         restriction sites and extrabases,     -   upper case sequence homologous to sequence upstream of the yjbI         gene (4251224-4251249, reference sequence available on the         ECOGENE website)

3.1.3. Construction of plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-DyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc

To construct pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-DyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc, the BstZ17I/SmaI fragment PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc purified from pUC18-TTadc-C 1*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc was cloned between the PacI/BstZ171 sites of plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔyjbI:TT02-SMC that had been treated by Large (Klenow) Fragment of E. coli DNA Polymerase I. The selected plasmid has the tc resistance cassette in the same orientation than the amp resistance cassette of pUC18 plasmid and was verified by DNA sequencing and called pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-DyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc

3.2. Construction of Strain MG1655 metA*11 DyjbI:TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc pKD46

To replace the yjbI gene by the TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc region, pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-DyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc was digested by AhdI and KpnI restriction enzymes and the remaining digested fragment ΔyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc was introduced into strain MG1655 metA*11 pKD46 according to Protocol 1.

Tetracycline resistant recombinants were selected and the presence of the ΔyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 Tc chromosomal modification was verified by PCR with primers Ome1856-DyjbI-verif1-F (SEQ ID No 40), Ome1857-DyjbI-verif2-R (SEQ ID No 41), Ome 1838-K7-FRT-Tc-seq-F (SEQ ID No 42), and Ome1815-metA*11-seq-F (SEQ ID No 43) (Table 7) and by DNA sequencing. The verified and selected strain was called MG1655 metA*11 ΔyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc (pKD46).

3.3. Transduction of ΔyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc into Strain 4

The ΔyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc chromosomal modification was transduced into strain 4 (Table 6), described above, with a P1 phage lysate from strain MG1655 metA*11 pKD46 ΔyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc described above, according to Protocol 2. Tetracycline resistant transductants were selected and the presence of the ΔyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc chromosomal modification was verified by PCR with Ome1856-DyjbI-verif1-F (SEQ ID No 40), Ome1857-DyjbI-verif2-R (SEQ ID No 41), Ome 1838-K7-FRT-Tc-seq-F (SEQ ID No 42), and Ome1815-metA*11-seq-F (SEQ ID No 43) (Table 2). The resulting strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF Ptrc07-serB ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpykA ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔuxaCA::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm DyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc was called strain 5 (Table 6).

4. Construction of Strain 6: MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF Ptrc07-serB ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpykA ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔuxaCA::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm ΔyjbI::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt 4.1. Construction of Plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔmelB:TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt

Plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt is derived from pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt and pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-:TT02-MCS::Gt described below.

4.1.1. Construction of Plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 Gt

Plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt is derived from pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔCP4-6::TT02-SMC::Gt and pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm described above.

Construction of pMA-ΔCP4-6::TT02-MCS::Gt

To construct plasmid pMA-ΔCP4-6::TT02-MCS::Gt, the FRT-Gt-FRT resistance cassette was amplified by PCR with primers BstZ17I-FRT-Gt-F (SEQ ID No 44) and HindIII-FRT-Gt-R (SEQ ID No 45) using p34S-Gm as template.

BstZ17I-FRT-Gt-F (SEQ ID No 45) TCCCCCGGGGTATAC TGTAGGCTGGAGCTGCTTCGAAGTTCCTATACTT TCTAGAGAATAGGAACTTCGGAATAGGAACTTCATTTAGATGGGTACCG AGCTCGAATTG

with

-   -   underlined upper case sequence for SmaI and BstZ17I restriction         sites and extrabases,     -   bold upper case sequence corresponding to the FRT sequence         (Datsenko, K. A. & Wanner, B. L., 2000, PNAS, 97: 6640-6645)     -   upper case sequence homologous to sequence of the gentamycin         gene located on p34S-Gm (Dennis et Zyltra, AEM July 1998, p         2710-2715).

HindIII-FRT-Gt-R (SEQ ID No 45) CCCAAGCTT CATATGAATATCCTCCTTAGTTCCTATTCCGAAGTTCCTAT TCTCTAGAAAGTATAGGAACTTCGGCGCGGATGGGTACCGAGCTCG AATTG

with

-   -   underlined upper case sequence for the HindIII restriction site         and extrabases,     -   bold upper case sequence corresponding to the FRT sequence         (Datsenko, K. A. & Wanner, B. L., 2000, PNAS, 97: 6640-6645)     -   upper case sequence homologous to the sequence of the gentamycin         gene located on p34S-Gm (Dennis et Zyltra, AEM July 1998, p         2710-2715).

The FRT-Gt-FRT PCR product was digested by BstZ17I and HindIII and cloned between the BstZ17I and HindIII sites of pMA-ΔCP4-6::TT02-MCS described in EP10306164.4 and US61/406249 patent applications. The resulting plasmid was verified by DNA sequencing and called pMA-ΔCP4-6::TT02-MCS-Gt.

Construction of pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔCP4-6::TT02-SMC::Gt

To construct pUC18-11 adc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔCP4-6::TT02-SMC::Gt, the StuI/BsrBI fragment ΔCP4-6::TT02-SMC::Gt purified from pMA-ΔCP4-6::TT02-MCS::Gt, described above, was cloned between the EcoRI sites of plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm that has been treated by Large (Klenow) Fragment of E. coli DNA Polymerase I. The resulting plasmid was verified by sequencing and called pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔCP4-6::TT02-SMC::Gt

To construct the final plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt, the ApaI/BamHI fragment TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 purified from pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm, described above, was cloned between the ApaI/BamHI sites of plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔCP4-6::TT02-SMC::Gt. The resulting plasmid was verified by sequencing and called pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt

4.1.2. Construction of Plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔmelB::TT02-SMC

To construct the ΔmelB::TT02-MCS fragment, overlapping PCR between the upstream region of melB (upmelB), the TT02 transcriptional terminator, the multiple cloning site (MCS) and the downstream region of melB (downmelB) was done.

First, the fragment upmelB-TT02-MCS was amplified from E. coli MG1655 genomic DNA using primers Ome 1841-SfoI-KpnI-DmelB amount-F (SEQ ID No 46) and Ome 1842-SMC-TT02-DmelB amount-R (SEQ ID No 47) by PCR. Then, the TT02-MCS-downmelB fragment was amplified from E. coli MG1655 genomic DNA using primers Ome 1843-TT02-SMC-DmelB aval-F (SEQ ID No 48) and Ome 1844-SfoI-KpnI-DmelB aval-R (SEQ ID No 49) by PCR. Primers Ome 1842-SMC-TT02-DmelB amount-R (SEQ ID No 47) and Ome 1843-TT02-SMC-DmelB aval-F (SEQ ID No 48) have been designed to overlap through a 36 nucleotides-long region. Finally, the upmelB-TT02-MCS-downmelB fragment was amplified by mixing the upmelB-TT02-MCS and the TT02-MCS-downmelB amplicons and using primers Ome 1841-SfoI-KpnI-DmelB amount-F (SEQ ID No 46) and Ome 1844-SfoI-KpnI-DmelB aval-R (SEQ ID No 49). The resulting fusion PCR product was digested by SfoI and cloned between the EcoRI sites of plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm, described above, which has been treated by Large (Klenow) Fragment of E. coli DNA Polymerase I. The resulting plasmid was verified by DNA sequencing and called pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔmelB::TT02-MCS.

Ome 1841-SfoI-KpnI-DmelB amont-F (SEQ ID No 46) CGTAGGCGCCGGTACCGACCTCAATATCGACCCAGCTACGC

with

-   -   underlined upper cases corresponding to SfoI and KpnI         restriction sites and extrabases,     -   upper case sequence homologous to sequence upstream of the melB         gene (4340489-4340513, reference sequence available on the         ECOGENE website)

Ome 1842 (SMC-TT02-DmelB amont-R) (SEQ ID No 47) GCTTGTATACAACAGATAAAACGAAAGGCCCAGTCTTTCGACTGAGCCTT TCGTTTTATTTGATGCATTGAAATGCTCATAGGGTATCGGGTCGC

with

-   -   underlined upper case sequence for the BstZ17I restriction site         and the beginning of a multiple cloning site,     -   upper case sequence corresponding to the transcriptional         terminator T1 of E. coli rrnB (Orosz A, Boros I and         Venetianer P. Eur. J. Biochem. 1991 Nov. 1; 201(3):653-9)     -   bold upper case sequence homologous to sequence downstream of         the melB gene (4341377-4341406, reference sequence available on         the ECOGENE website).

Ome 1843 (TT02-SMC-DmelB aval-F) (SEQ ID No 48) AGACTGGGCCTTTCGTTTTATCTGTTGTATACAAGCTTAATTAACCTAGG GCCCGGGCGGATCC GTGAGTGATGTGAAAGCCTGACGTGG

with

-   -   upper case sequence corresponding to the transcriptional         terminator T1 of E. coli rrnB (Orosz A, Boros I and         Venetianer P. Eur. J. Biochem. 1991 Nov. 1; 201(3):653-9)     -   bold upper case sequence containing a multiple cloning site:         BstZ17I, HindIII, AvrII, ApaI, BamHI,     -   underlined upper case sequence homologous to sequence downstream         of the melB gene (4342793-4342818, reference sequence available         on the ECOGENE website).

Ome 1844 (Sfo1-KpnI-DmelB aval-R) (SEQ ID No 49) CGTAGGCGCCGGTACCCGAACTGCACTAAGTAACCTCTTCGG

-   -   underlined upper cases corresponding to SfoI and KpnI         restriction sites and extrabases,     -   upper case sequence homologous to sequence upstream of the melB         gene (4343694-4343719, reference sequence available on the         ECOGENE website)

4.1.3. Construction of plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt

To construct pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt, the BstZ17I/BamHI fragment PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt purified from pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt, described above, was cloned between the BstZ17I/BamHI sites of plasmid pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔmelB::TT02-SMC, described above. The resulting plasmid was verified by sequencing and called pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-DmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt.

4.2. Construction of Strain MG1655 metA*11 DmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt pKD46

To replace the melB gene by the TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt region, pUC18-TTadc-CI*0-PlambdaR*(−35)-ΔmelB:TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11:Gt was digested by AhdI and SphI restriction enzymes and the remaining digested fragment ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt was introduced into strain MG1655 metA*11 pKD46 according to Protocol 1.

Gentamycin resistant recombinants were selected and the presence of the ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt chromosomal modification was verified by PCR with primers Ome 1845-DmelB-verif1-F (SEQ ID No 50) and Ome 1846-DmelB-verif2-R (SEQ ID No 51) (Table 7). and by DNA sequencing. The verified and selected strain was called MG1655 metA*11 TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt (pKD46).

4.3. Transduction of ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt into Strain 5

The ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt chromosomal modification was transduced into strain 5 (Table 6), described above, with a P1 phage lysate from strain MG1655 metA*11 pKD46 ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt described above, according to Protocol 2.

Gentamycin resistant transductants were selected and the presence of the ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt chromosomal modification was verified by PCR with Ome 1845-DmelB-verif1-F (SEQ ID No 50) and Ome 1846-DmelB-verif2-R (SEQ ID No 51) (Table 7). The resulting strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF Ptrc07-serB ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpykA ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-C1857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE ΔpgaABCD::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔuxaCA::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔCP4-6::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11 ΔwcaM::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Cm ΔyjbI:TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Tc ΔmelB::TT02-TTadc-PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE-PgapA-metA*11::Gt was called strain 6.

5. Construction of Strain 8: MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE pBeloBAC11-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ 5.1. Construction of Strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE

Promoter chromosomal modifications Ptrc-metH, PtrcF-cysPUWAM, PtrcF-cysJIH, Ptrc09-gcvTHP and Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF, which have been described in WO2007/077041 and in WO2009/043803 patent applications, and ΔmetJ, ΔpykF, ΔpurU and ΔyncA genes deletions, which have been described in WO2007/077041, in WO2009/043803 and in WO2005/111202 patent applications, were transduced into a strain containing a metA*11 alleles which encodes an homoserine succinyltransferase with reduced feed-back sensitivity to S-adenosylmethionine and/or methionine as described in WO2005/111202, according to Protocol 2.

Resistance cassette, associated with each chromosomal modification or deletion during the construction of the strain have been removed according to Protocol 1.

The ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE::Km chromosomal modification was transduced into the strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-cysJIH Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpurU ΔyncA with a P1 phage lysate from strain MG1655 metA*11 pKD46 ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE::Km described in EP10306164.4 and U.S. 61/406,249 patent applications, according to Protocol 2.

Kanamycin resistant transductants were selected and the presence of ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE::Km chromosomal modification was verified by PCR with primers Ome 0826-malS-F (SEQ ID No 52) and Ome 0827-malS-R (SEQ ID No 53) (Table 7). The resulting strain has the genotype MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE::Km

Finally, the kanamycin resistance of the above strain was removed according to Protocol 1. The loss of the kanamycin resistant cassette was verified by PCR by using the primers Ome 0826-malS-F (SEQ ID No 52) and Ome 0827-malS-R (SEQ ID No 53). The resulting strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE was called strain 7.

5.1.1. Construction of Strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF ΔmetJ ΔpykF ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-CI857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE pBeloBAC11-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ

Construction of pBeloBAC11-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ Plasmid

Plasmid pBeloBAC11-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ plasmid is derived from plasmid pBeloBAC11-PT7/RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ described in example 2 of this patent application.

To construct plasmid pBeloBAC11-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ, plasmid pBeloBAC11-PT7/RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ was amplified with primers Ome 2012-SfoI-HpaI-AvrII-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-F (SEQ ID No 54) and Ome 0625-Ptrc-cysE*rec (SEQ ID No 55). The HpaI/NheI digested PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1 fragment was cloned between the HpaI and NheI sites of the plasmid pBeloBAC11-PT7/RBST7-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ described in example 2 of this patent application. The resulting plasmid was verified by DNA sequencing and called pBeloBAC11-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ.

Ome 2012 SfoI-HpaI-AvrII-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-F (SEQ ID No 54) TGCCGGCACGGCGCCAAGTTAACCCTAGG TTATCTCTGGCGGTGTTGACA TAAATACCACTGGCGGTTATACTGAGCACAtcaacTAAGGAGGTTATAAA TGAGAGTGTTGAAGTTCG

with

-   -   underlined upper cases corresponding to SfoI, HpaI and AvrII         restriction sites and extrabases,     -   bold upper case sequence corresponding to short form of lambda         bacteriophage P_(L) promoter (P_(L1) Giladi et al, FEMS         Microbiol Rev. 1995 August; 17(1-2):135-40) and harbouring a         mutation in −10 boxes (G-12T described in Kincade & deHaseth,         Gene. 1991 Jan. 2; 97(1):7-12). This promoter is called PL1*1).     -   lower cases: five bases spacing the transcriptional start site         of PL1*1 and the ribosome binding site RBS01*2     -   italic upper cases corresponding to RBS01*2 sequence     -   underlined upper case sequence homologous to thrA*1 gene         (337-354, reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website).

Ome 0625 Ptrc-cysE*rec (SEQ ID No 55) CCGGGTCAGCGGCGTAGGC homologous to cysE gene (3780360-3780378, reference sequence available on the ECOGENE website)

The pBeloBAC11-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ, described above, was introduced by electroporation into strain 7 (Table 6). The presence of plasmid pBeloBAC11-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*11-T7TΦ was verified and the resulting strain MG1655 metA*11 Ptrc-metH PtrcF-cysPUWAM PtrcF-cysJIH Ptrc09-gcvTHP Ptrc36-ARNmst17-metF ΔmetF ΔpykF ΔpurU ΔyncA ΔmalS::TTadc-C1857-PlambdaR*(−35)-thrA*1-cysE pBeloBAC11-PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE-PgapA-metA*//-TT01 was called strain 8.

TABLE 7 Primers used for PCR verifications of chromosomal modifications described above Location of the homology with the Genes SEQ chromosomal name Primers name ID No  region Sequences wcaM Ome1707- 30 2115741-2115762 GCCGTTCAACACTGGCTGGACG DwcaM_verif_F Ome1708- 31 2110888-2110907 TGCCATTGCAGGTGCATCGC DwcaM_verif_R yjbI Ome1856-DyjbI-verif1-F 40 4247754-4247774 CAGACCACCCAACTGGCGACC Ome1857-DyjbI-verif2-R 41 4251489-4251508 GCCATTGGAATCGACCAGCC Ome 1838-K7-FRT-Tc- 42 GGTTGCTGGCGCCTATATCGC seq-F Ome 1815-metA*11-seq-F 43 4212634-4212658 GCCTGGTGGAGTTTAATGATG TCGC melB Ome 1845-DmelB-verif1-F 50 4340168-4340187 GCCGATTTTGTCGTGGTGGC Ome 1846-DmelB-verif2-R 51 4344044-4344065 GCCGGTTATCCATCAGGTTCAC malS Ome0826-malS-F 52 3734778-3734800 GGTATTCCACGGGATTTTTCGCG Ome0827-malS-R 53 3738298-3738322 CGTCAGTAATCACATTGCCTG TTGG

EXAMPLE IV Evaluation of Temperature Dependent Methionine Production of Strains 3, 4, 5 and 6

Production strains were evaluated in small Erlenmeyer flasks. A 5.5 mL preculture was grown for 21 hours in a mixed medium (10% LB medium (Sigma 25%) with 2.5 g·L⁻¹ glucose and 90% minimal medium PC1). It was used to inoculate a 50 mL culture to an OD₆₀₀ of 0.2 in medium PC1. When it was necessary, gentamycin was added at a concentration of 10 mg·L⁻¹, chloramphenicol at 30 mg·L⁻¹ and tetracycline at 5 mg·L⁻¹. When the culture had reached an OD₆₀₀ of 5 to 7, extracellular amino acids were quantified by HPLC after OPA/Fmoc derivatization and other relevant metabolites were analyzed using HPLC with refractometric detection (organic acids and glucose) and GC-MS after silylation.

The culture and preculture conditions are shown in tables below. Precultures were grown either at 30° C. or 37° C. Cultures were grown either at 30° C. or 37° C. or at 37° C. for 2 hours, then at 42° C. for 2 hours and finally 37° C. for the rest of the culture.

TABLE 8 Minimal medium composition (PC1). Concentration Compound (g · L⁻¹) ZnSO₄•7H₂O 0.0040 CuCl₂•2H₂O 0.0020 MnSO₄•H₂O 0.0200 CoCl₂•6H₂O 0.0080 H₃BO₃ 0.0010 Na₂MoO₄•2H₂O 0.0004 MgSO₄•7H₂O 1.00 Citric acid 6.00 CaCl₂•2H₂O 0.04 K₂HPO₄ 8.00 Na₂HPO₄ 2.00 (NH₄)₂HPO₄ 8.00 NH₄Cl 0.13 NaOH 4M Adjusted to pH 6.8 FeSO_(4•)7H₂O 0.04 Thiamine 0.01 Glucose 15.00 Ammonium thiosulfate 5.60 Vitamin B12 0.01 MOPS 15.00

TABLE 9 Methionine yield (Y_(met)) in % g methionine/g de glucose produced in batch culture by the strain 3. For the precise definition of methionine/glucose yield see below. Growth conditions of precultures and cultures of strain 3 Y_(met) SD Strain 3 - PC 30° C./C 30° C. 7.9 0.5 (n = 4) Strain 3 - PC 30° C./C 37° C. 9.0 1.0 (n = 34) Strain 3 - PC 30° C./C 37-42-37° C. 9.2 1.2 (n = 86) Strain 3 - PC 37°/C37° C. 7.9 0.1 (n = 3) SD denotes the standard deviation for the yields that was calculated on the basis of several repetitions (n = number of repetitions). Different culture conditions were tested. They are indicated in the table; PC means preculture and C means culture.

As shown in table 9 thermo-induction of the expression of genes thrA*1 and cysE during the culture process increases the amount of methionine produced. Constitutive expression throughout the culture process results in low methionine yield.

For an optimal methionine production, the best culture conditions are 30° C. for the preculture followed by a culture at 37° C. (2 h), 42° C. (2 h), 37° C. In such conditions, strain 3 produced methionine with a yield of 9.2%.

TABLE 10 Methionine yield (Y_(met)) in % g methionine/g de glucose produced in batch culture by strains 4, 5 and 6. For the precise definition of methionine/glucose yield see below. Strain and growth condition Y_(met) SD Strain 4 - PC 30° C./C 37-42-37° C. 9.7 1.7 (n = 11) Strain 5 - PC 30° C./C 37-42-37° C. 10.6 1.3 (n = 9) Strain 6 - PC 30° C./C 37-42-37° C. 11.7 0.1 (n = 3) SD denotes the standard deviation for the yields that was calculated on the basis of several repetitions (n = number of repetitions). Precultures were cultivated at 30° C. and culture at 37° C. for 2 hours, 42° C. for 2 hours and 37° C. until the culture end.

Strains 4, 5 and 6 were all cultivated in conditions for optimal methionine production. As shown in table 10, thermo-induction of the expression of genes thrA*1 and cysE during the culture process increases the production proportionally to the copy number of the genes controlled by the inducible promoter. Indeed, strain 6 possessing seven copies of thrA*1 under the control of Plambda promoter (see table 6) produced methionine with a higher yield than strains 5 (6 copies of thr*1) and 4 (5 copies).

It is noteworthy to precise that strains 5 and 6 cannot grow at a constant temperature of 37° C. In conclusion these results demonstrate that thermo-induction is not only better for the production but also essential in such case.

Extracellular methionine concentration was quantified by HPLC after OPA/FMOC derivatization. The residual glucose concentration was analyzed using HPLC with refractometric detection. The methionine yield was expressed as followed:

$Y_{met} = {\frac{{methionine}\mspace{11mu}(g)}{{consum}\;{med}\mspace{14mu}{glucose}\mspace{14mu}(g)}*100}$

To validate the thermo-induction of the expression of thrA*1 and cysE genes, the activities of the corresponding enzymes were determined in crude extracts.

For the determination of enzyme activities in vitro, E. coli strains were cultured in minimal medium as described above and harvested at the end of the exponential growth phase by centrifugation. Pellets were resuspended in cold 20 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.2) containing a tablet of protease inhibitor cocktail with EDTA. Then, cells were lysed 1×30 s at 6500 rpm by bead beating with a Precellys system (Bertin Technologies) followed by centrifugation at 12000 g (4° C.) for 30 minutes. Supernatants were desalted and used for analysis. Protein concentrations were determined using Bradford assay reagent (Bradford, 1976).

For the determination of HDH activity (Homoserine Dehydrogenase, encoded by thrA*1) in vitro, 15 μg of cell crude extract were assayed in 100 mM Tris-HCl pH9, 150 mM KCl, 1 mM NADP+ and 25 mM L-Homoserine. NADP+ reduction in presence of L-homoserine was monitored spectrophotometrically for 30 minutes at 340 nm.

SAT activity (Serine Acetyl Transferase, encoded by cysE) was assayed spectrophotometrically at 25° C. by measuring the absorbance of TNB at 408 nm for 10 minutes, due to the reaction of CoA with DTNB. Reaction was done with 2 μg of crude extracts in 80 mM potassium phosphate pH7.5, 2 mM acetyl-coA, 30 mM serine and 0.1 mM DTNB.

TABLE 11 Homoserine dehydrogenase (HDH, thrA*1) and serine acetyltransferase (SAT, cysE) activities were determined on the crude extracts of cultures of strain 3 grown in different conditions. Growth conditions of precultures and cultures of strain 3 HDH SAT N Preculture 30° C. +  78 ± 28  99 ± 10 6 Culture 30° C. Preculture 30° C. + 104 ± 21 153 ± 28 18 Culture 37° C. Preculture 30° C. + 195 ± 33 324 ± 32 16 Culture 37/42/37° C. Preculture 37° C. +  94 ± 25 181 ± 20 6 Culture 37° C. Activities are given in mUI/mg of proteins. Standard deviations were calculated on the basis of several independent cultures (N = number of repetitions).

Table 11 shows that upon induction HDH and SAT activities are increased. Constitutive expression of thrA*1 and cysE results in levels of HDH and SAT activities that are between non-induced and induced conditions, explaining in part the lower methionine yield. In conclusion these results demonstrate that the induction of thrA*1 and cysE is truly beneficial for increasing methionine yield.

In the same manner for strains 4, 5 and 6, HDH and SAT activities increased upon induction. Activities increase proportionally with the copy-number of the genes thrA*1 and cysE integrated on the chromosome (Data not shown).

EXAMPLE V Evaluation of Temperature Dependent Methionine Production of Strain 8

Strain 8 was evaluated in small Erlenmeyer flasks as described in example IV. It was compared to strain 3.

TABLE 12 Methionine yield (Y_(met)) in % g methionine/g de glucose produced in batch culture by strains 8 and 3. For the precise definition of methionine/glucose yield see below. Growth conditions of strains 3 and 8 Y_(met) SD Strain 8 - PC 30° C./C 37-42-37° C. 9.5 0.1 (n = 3) Strain 3 - PC 30° C./C 37-42-37° C. 8.6 0.5 (n = 3) SD denotes the standard deviation for the yields that was calculated on the basis of several repetitions (n = number of repetitions). Precultures were cultivated at 30° C. and culture at 37° C. for 2 hours, 42° C. for 2 hours and then 37° C. until the end of the culture.

As shown in table 12, methionine production upon induction is as good for strain 8 carrying construction PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE as for strain 3 carrying 4 copies of construction PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE.

Extracellular methionine concentration was quantified by HPLC after OPA/FMOC derivatization. The residual glucose concentration was analyzed using HPLC with refractometric detection. The methionine yield was expressed as followed:

$Y_{met} = {\frac{{methionine}\mspace{11mu}(g)}{{consummed}\mspace{14mu}{glucose}\mspace{14mu}(g)}*100}$

To validate the thermo-induction of the expression of thrA*1 and cysE genes controlled by the PL1*1 inducible promoter, the activities of the corresponding enzymes were determined in crude extracts as described in example IV.

TABLE 13 Homoserine dehydrogenase (HDH, thrA*1) and serine acetyltransferase (SAT, cysE) activities were determined in the above described cultures and were given in mUI/mg of proteins. Growth conditions of strain 3 and 8 HDH SAT N Strain 8- Preculture 30° C. +  91 ± 8 140 ± 2  3 Culture 37/42/37° C. Strain 3 - Preculture 30° C. + 100 ± 3 140 ± 10 2 Culture 37/42/37° C. Standard deviations were calculated on the basis of several independent cultures (N = number of repetitions).

As can be seen in table 13, the HDH and SAT activities of strain 8 were similar to that of strain 3. As a result, induction from PL1*1/RBS01*2-thrA*1-SMC-cysE is at least equivalent to induction from 4 copies of PlambdaR*(−35)-RBS01-thrA*1-cysE.

REFERENCES

-   Saunderson, C. L., (1985) British Journal of Nutrition 54, 621-633. -   “Microbial conversion of glycerol to 1,3-propanediol by an     engineered strain of Escherichia coli.” Tang X, Tan Y, Zhu H, Zhao     K, Shen W. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2009 March; 75(6):1628-34. -   “A genetic switch”. Ptashne M. Blackwell Scientific, Cambridge,     Mass. 1986. -   “A genetic switch: Phage lambda revisited”. Ptashne M. Cold Spring     Harbor Lab Press. Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 2004. -   “The bacteriophages, Part II: Life of phages, 8”. Gene regulatory     circuitry of phage λ. Little J. 2^(nd) edition 2004. Richard     Calendar.ed. Oxford University Press. -   “On a thermosensitive repression system in the Escherichia coli     lambda bacteriophage”. Sussman R, Jacob F. C. R. Hebd. Seances Acad.     Sci. 1962, 254, p1517. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A microorganism modified for an improved production of methionine or its derivatives in a fermentative process, wherein in said modified microorganism, expression of five, six, or seven copies of homoserine dehydrogenase (thrA) and serine acetyltransferase (cysE) genes involved in methionine production is under direct control of a heterologous temperature-inducible promoter.
 2. The microorganism of claim 1, wherein said temperature-inducible promoter is selected from the group consisting of promoters regulated by a modified repressor of phage lambda, the promoter PR or a derivative of PR, the promoter PL or a derivative of PL and a modified lac promoter regulated by a temperature sensitive Lac repressor.
 3. The microorganism of claim 2, wherein said modified repressor of phage lambda is the lambda repressor allele cI857 or any other temperature labile allele of the lambda repressor cI.
 4. The microorganism of claim 2, wherein in the modified microorganism, the gene recA is deleted.
 5. The microorganism of claim 1, wherein said expression of thrA and cysE genes involved in methionine production is under indirect control of said heterologous temperature-inducible promoter, said genes being transcribed by a heterologous RNA polymerase, having an expression that is under control of an inducible promoter.
 6. The microorganism of claim 5, wherein said heterologous RNA polymerase is selected from the group consisting of T7 and T3 polymerase.
 7. The microorganism of claim 1, wherein said microorganism further comprises at least one gene whose expression is under control, direct or indirect, of a heterologous inducible promoter selected from the group consisting of cysteine synthase (cysK), ORF upstream of cysK (cysZ), ATP sulfurylase (cysN), sulfate adenylyltransferase (cysD), adenylylsulfate kinase (cysC), Periplasmic sulfate-binding protein (sbp), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (ppc), phosphoenolpyruvate synthase (pps), pyruvate carboxylase (pyc), acetyl-CoA synthetase (acs), homoserine O-transsuccinylase (metA), cystathionine gamma-synthase (metB), cystathionine beta-lyase (metC), 5-methyltetrahydropteroyltriglutamate-homocysteine S-methyltransferase (metE), 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (metF), B12-dependent homocysteine-N5-methyltetrahydrofolate transmethylase (metH), methionine adenosyltransferase (metK), aspartokinase II/homoserine dehydrogenase II (metL), aspartate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase (asd), aspartate aminotransferase (aspC), aspartokinase III (lysC), pyruvate kinase I (pykA), pyruvate kinase II (pykF) formyltetrahydrofolate deformylase (purU), the operons cysPUWAM (periplasmic sulphate binding protein, a component of sulphate ABC transporter, a membrane bound sulphate transport protein, a sulphate permease and an 0-acetyl serine sulfhydralase), cysJIH (alpha and beta subunits of a sulfite reductase and an adenylylsulfate reductase) and gcvTHP (Tetrahydrofolate dependent aminomethyl transferase, a glycine cleavage, carrier of aminomethyl group and a glycine dehydrogenase), phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (serA), phosphoserine phosphatase (serB), phosphoserine aminotransferase (serC), serine hydroxymethyl transferase (glyA), acetate kinase (ackA), phosphotransacetylase (pta), pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 (ace), pyruvate dehydrogenase E2 (aceF), lipoamide dehydrogenase (Ipd), succinyl-CoA synthetase beta subunit (sucC), succinyl-CoA synthetase alpha subunit (sucD), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pck), malate dehydrogenase (maeB), pyruvate oxidase (poxB), acetohydroxy acid synthase I large subunit (ilvB), acetohydroxy acid synthase I small subunit (ilvN), acetohydroxy acid synthase II large subunit (ilvG), acetohydroxy acid synthase II small subunit (ilvM), acetohydroxy acid synthase III large subunit (ilvI), acetohydroxy acid synthase III small subunit (ilvH), DAHP synthetase (aroF), DAHP synthetase (aroG), DAHP synthetase (aroH), homoserine kinase (thrB), threonine synthase (thrC), serine deaminase (sdaA), serine deaminase (sdaB), S-Adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (speD), ornithine decarboxylase (speC), arginine succinyltransferase (astA), dihydrodipicolinate synthase (dapA), malate dehydrogenase (mdh), malate dehydrogenase FAD/NAD(P)-binding domain (mqo), citrate synthase (gltA).
 8. The microorganism of claim 1, wherein the gene thrA is a thrA allele having reduced feedback sensitivity to threonine.
 9. The microorganism of claim 7, wherein the gene metA is a metA allele encoding enzyme with reduced feedback sensitivity to methionine and S-adenosylmethionine. 